€' 


% 


/'' 


^.x^^^ 


Xiterari?  (Bcms 

Series  I.  to  IV.  (comprising  24  books)  now  ready 
For  full  list,  see  end  of  this  volume 


literary  ©ema 


Zhc  IRibelunoen  %kb 


^bomag  aarlijlc 


-^ 


t\ew  IgorlJ  an&  Xon^on 

0.  p.  Putnam's  Sons 

Ube  Iknicfecrbocfter  prcse 


Hleitrotypeil,  Printed,  and  Bound  l>y 

Ubc  Iknicfscrbockcr  iPrees,  IRew  ll?orl? 

("..   P.  Putnam's  Sons 


NIBEIvUNGEN  LIED. 


2211178 


THE  NIBKLUNGKN  I.IKD.* 

BY   THOMAS   CARI^YIyK. 

IN  the  year  1757,  the  Swiss  Pro- 
fessor Bodmer  printed  an  ancient 
poetical  manuscript,  under  the  title 
of  "  Chriemhilden  Rache  und  die 
Klage  "  ("  Chriemhilde's  Revenge, 
and  the  lyament " )  ;  which  may  be 
considered  as  the  first  of  a  series,  or 
stream  of  publications  and  specula- 
tions still  rolling  on,  with  increased 
current,  to  the  present  day.  Not, 
indeed,  that  all  these  had  their  source 
or  determining  cause  in  so  insignificant 

*  JVestminsier  Review,  No.  29. — "  Das  Nibelungen 
lyied,"  iibersetzt  von  Karl  Simrock  ("The  Nibelun- 
gen I,ied,"  translated  by  Karl  Simrock).  2  vols, 
i2mo.     Berlin,  1827 


Ubc  IRibclungcn  XieD 


a  circumstance  ;  their  source,  or  rather 
thousand  sources,  lay  far  elsewhere. 
As  has  often  been  remarked,  a  certain 
antiquarian  tendency  in  literature,  a 
fonder,  more  earnest  looking  back  into 
the  Past,  began  about  that  time  to 
manifest  itself  in  all  nations  (witness 
our  own  "Percy's  Reliques  ")  :  this 
was  among  the  first  distinct  symptoms 
of  it  in  Germany  ;  where,  as  with  our- 
selves, its  manifold  effects  are  still  visi- 
ble enough. 

Some  fifteen  years  after  Bodmer's 
publication,  which,  for  the  rest,  is  not 
celebrated  as  an  editorial  feat,  one  C. 
H.  Miiller  undertook  a  "  Collection  of 
German  Poems  from  the  Twelfth,  Thir- 
teenth, and  Fourteenth  Centuries  ' '  ; 
wherein,  among  other  articles,  he  re- 
printed Bodmer's  "  Chriemhilde  "  and 
"  Klage,"  with  a  highly  remarkable 
addition  prefixed  to  the  former,  es^^en- 


Ebe  IRibelungen  XieD 


tial  indeed  to  the  right  understanding 
of  it ;  and  the  whole  now  stood  before 
the  world  as  one  Poem,  under  the  name 
of  the  ' '  Nibelungen  Lied, "  or  "  Lay  of 
the  Nibelungen."  It  has  since  been 
ascertained  that  the  ' '  Klage "  is  a 
foreign  appendage ;  at  best,  related  only 
as  epilogue  to  the  main  work.  Mean- 
while out  of  this  "  Nibelungen,"  such 
as  it  was,  there  soon  proceeded  new 
inquiries  and  kindred  enterprises.  For 
much  a-s  the  Poem,  in  the  shape  it  here 
bore,  was  defaced  and  marred,  it  failed 
not  to  attract  observation  :  to  all  open- 
minded  lovers  of  poetry,  especially 
where  a  strong  patriotic  feeling  existed, 
the  singular  antique  ' '  Nibelungen  ' ' 
was  an  interesting  appearance.  Jo- 
hannes Miiller,  in  his  famous  ' '  Swiss 
Histor>^, ' '  spoke  of  it  in  warm  terms  ; 
subsequently,  August  Wilhelm  Schle- 
gel,    through     the     medium    of    the 


Zbc  IRlbelungen  Xie& 


*' Deutsclie  Museum,"  succeeded  in 
awakening  something  like  a  universal 
popular  feeling  on  the  subject  ;  and, 
as  a  natural  consequence,  a  whole  host 
of  Editors  and  Critics,  of  deep  and  of 
shallow  endeavor,  whose  labors  we 
yet  see  in  progress.  The  "  Nibelun- 
gen  "  has  now  been  investigated,  trans- 
lated, collated,  commented  upon,  with 
more  or  less  result,  to  almost  bound- 
less lengths  ;  besides  the  Work  named 
at  the  head  of  this  Paper,  and  which 
stands  there  simply  as  one  of  the  latest, 
we  have  Versions  into  the  modern 
tongue  by  Von  der  Hagen,  by  Hins- 
berg,  Lachmann,  Biisching,  Zeune,  the 
last  in  Prose,  and  said  to  be  worthless  ; 
Criticisms,  Introductions,  Keys,  and  so 
forth,  by  innumerable  others,  of  whom 
we  mention  only  Docen  and  the  Broth- 
ers Grimm. 

By  which  means,  not  only  has  the 


Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD 


Poem  itself  been  elucidated  with  all 
manner  of  researches,  but  its  whole 
environment  has  come  forth  in  new 
light ;  the  scene  and  personages  it  re- 
lates to,  the  other  fictions  and  tradi- 
tions connected  with  it,  have  attained 
a  new  importance  and  coherence. 
Manuscripts,  that  for  ages  have  lain 
dormant,  have  issued  from  their  ar- 
chives into  public  view  ;  books  that 
had  circulated  only  in  mean  guise  for 
the  amusement  of  the  people,  have  be- 
come important,  not  to  one  or  two 
virtuosos,  but  to  the  general  body  of 
the  learned  :  and  now  a  whole  System 
of  antique  Teutonic  Fiction  and  Myth- 
ology unfolds  itself,  shedding  here  and 
there  a  real  though  feeble  and  uncer- 
tain glimmer  over  what  was  once  the 
total  darkness  of  the  old  Time.  No 
fewer  than  Fourteen  ancient  Tradi- 
tionary   Poems,    all    strangely    inter- 


trbe  IRibelungen  XieD 


twisted,  and  growing  out  of  and  into 
one  another,  have  come  to  light  among 
the  Germans  ;  who  now,  in  looking 
back,  find  that  they  too,  as  well  as  the 
Greeks,  have  their  Heroic  Age,  and 
round  the  old  Valhalla,  as  their  North- 
ern Pantheon,  a  world  of  demi-gods 
and  wonders. 

Such  a  phenomenon,  unexpected 
till  of  late,  cannot  but  interest  a  deep- 
thinking,  enthusiastic  people.  For  the 
* '  Nibelungen  ' '  especiall}^  which  lies  as 
the  centre  and  distinct  keystone  of  the 
whole  too  chaotic  System, — let  us  say 
rather,  blooms  as  a  firm  sunny  island 
in  the  middle  of  these  cloud-covered, 
ever-shifting  sand-whirlpools,  —  they 
cannot  sufficiently  testify  their  love 
and  veneration.  lycarned  professors 
lecture  on  the  * '  Nibelungen  ' '  in  pub- 
lic schools,  with  a  praiseworthy  view 
to  initiate  the  German  youth  in  love  of 


Zhc  IRlbeUingen  XieD 


their  father-land  ;  from  many  zealous 
and  nowise  ignorant  critics  we  hear 
talk  of  a  ' '  great  Northern  Epos, "  of  a 
*'  German  Iliad  "  ;  the  more  saturnine 
are  shamed  into  silence,  or  hollow 
mouth-homage.  Thus  from  all  quarters 
comes  a  sound  of  joyful  acclamation  ; 
the  ' '  Nibelungen ' '  is  welcomed  as  a 
precious  national  possession,  recovered 
after  six  centuries  of  neglect,  and  takes 
undisputed  place  among  the  sacred 
books  of  German  literature. 

Of  these  curious  transactions  some 
rumor  has  not  failed  to  reach  us  in 
England,  where  our  minds,  from  their 
own  antiquarian  disposition,  were  will- 
ing enough  to  receive  it.  Abstracts 
and  extracts  of  the  * '  Nibelungen ' ' 
have  been  printed  in  our  language ; 
there  have  been  disquisitions  on  it  in 
our  Reviews  ;  hitherto,  however,  such 
as  nowise  to  exhaust  the  subject.     On 


^be  Bibelungen  Xfc& 


the  contraty,  where  so  much  was  to  be 
told  at  once,  the  speaker  might  be 
somewhat  puzzled  where  to  begin.  It 
was  a  much  readier  method  to  begin 
with  the  end,  or  with  any  part  of  the 
middle,  than  like  Hamilton's  Ram 
(whose  example  is  too  little  followed 
in  literary  narrative)  to  begin  with  the 
beginning.  Thus  has  our  stock  of  in- 
telligence come  rushing  out  on  us  quite 
promiscuously  and  pellmell ;  whereby 
the  whole  matter  could  not  but  acquire 
a  tortuous,  confused,  altogether  inex- 
plicable and  even  dreary  aspect ;  and 
the  class  of  "  well-informed  persons  " 
now  find  themselves  in  that  uncom- 
fortable position,  where  they  are 
obliged  to  profess  admiration,  and  at 
the  same  time  feel  that,  except  by 
name,  they  know  not  what  the  thing 
admired  is.  Such  a  position  towards 
the   venerable  "  Nibelungen,"   which 


Zbc  IRlbelunaen  Xle& 


is  no  less  bright  and  graceful  than 
historically  significant,  cannot  be  the 
right  one.  Moreover,  as  appears  to 
us,  it  might  be  somewhat  mended  b}^ 
very  simple  means.  I^et  any  one  that 
has  honestly  read  the  ' '  Nibelungen, ' ' 
which  in  these  days  is  no  surprising 
achievement,  only  tell  us  what  he 
found  there,  and  nothing  that  he  did 
not  find.  We  should  then  know  some- 
thing, and,  what  were  still  better,  be 
ready  for  knowing  more.  To  search  out 
the  secret  roots  of  such  a  production, 
ramified  through  successive  layers  of 
centuries,  and  drawing  nourishment 
from  each,  ma}^  be  work,  and  too  hard 
work,  for  the  deepest  philosopher  and 
critic  ;  but  to  look  with  natural  eyes  on 
what  part  of  it  stands  visibly  above 
ground,  and  record  his  own  experi- 
ences thereof,  is  what  an}^  reasonable 
mortal,  if  be  will  take  heed,  can  do. 


10  ^be  IFlibelungen  %ic^ 


Some  such  slight  service  we  here  in- 
tend proffering  to  our  readers.  Let 
them  glance  with  us  a  little  into  that 
mighty  maze  of  Northern  Archaeology  ; 
where,  it  may  be,  some  pleasant  pros- 
pects will  open.  If  the  ' '  Nibelungen ' ' 
is  what  we  have  called  it,  a  firm  sunny 
island  amid  the  weltering  chaos  of 
antique  tradition,  it  must  be  worth 
visiting  on  general  grounds ;  nay,  if 
the  primeval  rudiments  of  it  have  the 
antiquity  assigned  them,  it  belongs 
especially  to  us  English  Teuto7ies  as 
well  as  to  the  German. 

Far  be  it  from  us,  meanwhile,  to 
venture  rashly,  or  farther  than  is  need- 
ful, into  that  same  traditionary  chaos, 
fondly  named  the  * '  Cycle  of  Northern 
Fiction, ' '  with  its  Fourteen  Sectors  (or 
separate  Poems),  which  are  rather 
Fourteen  shoreless  Limbos,  where  we 
hear  of  pieces  containing  ' '  a  hundred 


^be  IRlbelungen  %ic^ 


thousand  verses, ' '  and  ' '  seventy  thou- 
sand verses,"  as  of  a  quite  natural 
affair  !  How  travel  through  that  inane 
country  ;  by  what  art  discover  the  little 
grain  of  Substance  that  casts  such  mul- 
tiplied immeasurable  Shadows  ?  The 
primeval  Mythus,  were  it  at  first  philo- 
sophical truth,  or  were  it  historical 
incident,  floats  too  vaguely  on  the 
breath  of  men  :  each  successive  Singer 
and  Redactor  furnishes  it  with  new 
personages,  new  scenery,  to  please  a 
new  audience  ;  each  has  the  privilege 
of  inventing,  and  the  far  wider  privi- 
lege of  borrowing  and  new-modelling 
from  all  that  have  preceded  him.  Thus, 
though  Tradition  may  have  but  one 
root,  it  grows  like  a  Banian,  into  a 
whole  over-arching  labyrinth  of  trees. 
Or  rather  might  we  say,  it  is  a  Hall  of 
Mirrors,  where  in  pale  light  each  mir- 
ror reflects,    convexly  or    concavely, 


Zhc  mibelungen  XieD 


not  only  some  real  Object,  but  the 
Shadows  of  this  in  other  mirrors ; 
which  again  do  the  like  for  it ;  till  in 
such  reflection  and  re-reflection  the 
whole  immensity  is  filled  with  dimmer 
and  dimmer  shapes  ;  and  no  firm  scene 
lies  around  us,  but  a  dislocated,  dis- 
torted chaos,  fading  away  on  all  hands,, 
in  the  distance,  into  utter  night.  Only 
to  some  brave  Von  der  Hagen,  fur- 
nished with  indefatigable  ardor,  and 
a  deep,  almost  religious  love,  is  it  given 
to  find  sure  footing  there,  and  see  his 
way.  All  those  ' '  Dukes  of  Aquitania, ' ' 
therefore,  and  Ktzel's  "  Court-hold- 
ings, ' '  and  * '  Dietrichs, ' '  and  ' '  Sige- 
nots, ' '  we  shall  leave  standing  where 
they  are.  Such  as  desire  farther  in- 
formation will  find  an  intelligible 
account  of  the  whole  Series  or  Cj^cle, 
in  Messrs.  Weber  and  Jamieson's  "  Il- 
lustrations of  Northern  Antiquities  ' '  ; 


^be  IRibelunQcn  XieD  13 

and  all  possible  furtherance  in  tlie 
numerous  German  works  above  al- 
luded to ;  among  which  Von  der 
Hagen's  writings,  though  not  the 
readiest,  are  probably  the  safest  guides. 
But  for  us,  our  business  here  is  with 
the  "  Nibelungen,"  the  inhabited  po- 
etic countr}^  round  which  all  these 
wildernesses  lie  ;  only  as  environments 
of  which,  as  routes  to  which,  are  they 
of  moment  to  us.  Perhaps  our  short- 
est and  smoothest  route  will  be 
through  the  ' '  Heldenbuch  "  ( "  Hero- 
book  "  )  ;  which  is  greatly  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  subsidiary  Fictions, 
not  without  interest  of  its  own,  and 
closely  related  to  the  "  Nibelungen." 
This  "Heldenbuch,"  therefore,  we 
must  now  address  ourselves  to  traverse 
with  all  despatch.  At  the  present 
stage  of  the  business,  too,  we  shall  for- 
bear any  historical  inquirj^  and  argu- 


14  tTbe  mfbelungen  XieO 

ment  concerning  the  date  and  local 
habitation  of  those  Traditions  ;  reserv- 
ing what  little  is  to  be  said  on  that 
matter  till  the  Traditions  themselves 
have  become  better  known  to  us.  I^et 
the  reader,  on  trust  for  the  present, 
transport  himself  into  the  twelfth  or 
thirteenth  centur}^ ;  and  therefrom 
looking  back  into  the  sixth  or  fifth, 
see  what  presents  itself. 

Of  the  "  Heldenbuch,"  tried  on  its 
own  merits,  and  except  as  illustrating 
that  other  far  worthier  Poem,  or  at  most 
as  an  old  national,  and  still  in  some 
measure  popular  book,  we  should  have 
felt  strongly  inclined  to  say,  as  the  Cu- 
rate in  * '  Don  Quixote ' '  so  often  did,  Al 
corral  con  ello.  Out  of  window  with  it  ! 
Doubtless  there  are  touches  of  beauty 
in  the  work,  and  e^^en  a  sort  of  hearti- 
ness and  antique  quaintness  in  its 
wildest  follies  :  but  on  the  whole  that 


XTbe  Iftlbelungen  XteO  15 

George-and-Dragon  species  of  compo- 
sition has  long  ceased  to  find  favor 
with  any  one ;  and  except  for  its 
groundwork,  more  or  less  discernible, 
of  old  Northern  Fiction,  this  *'  Helden- 
buch  ' '  has  little  to  distinguish  it  from 
these.  Nevertheless,  what  is  worth 
remark,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  far 
higher  favorite  than  the  "  Nibelun- 
gen  ' '  with  ancient  readers.  It  was 
printed  soon  after  the  invention  of 
printing  ;  some  think  in  1472,  for  there 
is  no  place  or  date  on  the  first  edition  ; 
at  all  events,  in  1491,  in  1509,  and  re- 
peatedly since  ;  whereas  the  ' '  Nibe- 
lungen,"  though  written  earlier,  and  in 
worth  immeasurably  superior,  had  to 
remain  in  manuscript  three  centuries 
longer.  From  which,  for  the  thou- 
sandth time,  inferences  might  be  drawn 
as  to  the  infallibility  of  popular  taste, 
and  its  value  as  a  criterion  for  poetry. 


i6  Zbc  IRfbclungcn  XlcD 

However,  it  is  probabl}^  in  virtue  of 
this  neglect,  that  the  ' '  Nibelungen  ' ' 
boasts  of  its  actual  purity  ;  that  it  now 
comes  before  us,  clear  and  graceful  as 
it  issued  from  the  old  singer's  head  and 
heart ;  not  overloaded  with  Ass-eared 
Giants,  Fiery  Dragons,  Dwarfs,  and 
Hairj^  Women,  as  the  ^'  Heldenbuch  '* 
is,  many  of  which,  as  charity  would 
hope,  may  be  the  produce  of  a  later 
age  than  that  famed  ' '  Swabian  Kra, ' ' 
to  which  these  poems,  as  we  now  see 
them,  are  commonly  referred.  Indeed, 
one  Casper  von  Roen  is  understood  to 
have  passed  the  whole  *  *  Heldenbuch  ' ' 
through  his  limbec,  in  the  fifteenth 
centur>^  ;  but  like  other  rectifiers,  in- 
stead of  purifying  it,  to  have  only 
drugged  it  with  still  fiercer  ingredients 
to  suit  the  sick  appetite  of  the  time. 

Of    this    drugged   and    adulterated 
'  *  Hero-book  ' '   (the   only  one  we   yet 


XLbc  Blbelungen  XleO  17 

have,  though  there  is  talk  of  a  better) 
we  shall  quote  the  long  Title-page  of 
lyessing's  Copy,  the  edition  of  1560  ; 
from  which,  with  a  few  intercalated 
observations,  the  reader's  curiosity 
may  probably  obtain  what  little  satis- 
faction it  wants  : 

Das  Heldenbuch^  welchs  auffs  new 
corrigirt  und  gebessert  ist,  mit  shonen 
Figure7i  geziert.  Gedruckt  zu  Frank- 
furt am  Mayti,  du7xh  Weygaiid  Ha7i 
und  Sygmund  Feyerabend^  etc.  That 
is  to  say  : 

''  The  '  Hero-book,'  which  is  of  new 
corrected  and  improved,  adorned  with 
beautiful  Figures.  Printed  at  Frank- 
furt on  the  Mayn,  through  Weygand 
Han  and  Sygmund  Feyerabend. 

''Part  First  saith  of  Kaiser  Ottnit 
and  the  little  King  Blberich,  how  they 
with  great  peril,  over  sea,  in  Heathen- 
dom, won  from  a  king  his  daughter 


i8  tibe  mibelungen  OLieD 

(and  how  he  in  lawful  marriage  took 
her  to  wife)." 

From  which  announcement  the 
reader  already  guesses  the  contents : 
how  this  little  King  Klberich  was  a 
Dwarf  or  Klf,  some  half-span  long,  3- et 
full  of  cunning  practices  and  the  most 
helpful  activity  ;  nay,  stranger  still, 
had  been  Kaiser  Ottnit  of  Lampartei 
or  Lombardy's  father, — having  had  his 
own  ulterior  views  in  that  indiscretion. 
How  they  sailed  with  Messina  ships, 
into  Paynim  land  ;  fought  with  that 
unspeakable  Turk,  King  Machabol,  in 
and  about  his  fortress  and  metropolis 
of  Montebur,  which  was  all  stuck 
round  with  Christian  heads  ;  slew  from 
seventy  to  a  hundred  thousand  of  the 
infidels  at  one  heat ;  saw  the  lady  on 
the  battlements  ;  and  at  length,  chiefly 
by  Dwarf  Elberich's  help,  carried  her 
off  in  triumph ;  wedded  her  in  Messina ; 


Zbc  'Uibclimgcn  XleD  ♦ig 

and  without  difficulty,  rooting  out  the 
Mohammedan  prejudice,  converted  her 
to  the  creed  of  Mother  Church.  The 
fair  runaway  seems  to  have  been  of  a 
gentle,  tractable  disposition,  very  dif- 
ferent from  old  Machabol ;  concerning 
whom  it  is  here  chiefly  to  be  noted  that 
Dwarf  Elberich,  rendering  himself  in- 
visible on  their  first  inter\dew,  plucks 
out  a  handful  of  hair  from  his  chin, 
thereby  increasing  to  a  tenfold  pitch 
the  royal  choler  ;  and,  what  is  still 
more  remarkable,  furnishing  the  poet 
Wieland,  six  centuries  afterwards,  with 
the  critical  incident  in  his  ''  Oberon." 
As  for  the  young  lady  herself,  we  can- 
not but  admit  that  she  was  well  worth 
sailing  to  Heathendom  for,  and  shall 
here,  as  our  sole  specimen  of  that  old 
German  doggerel,  give  the  description 
of  her  as  she  first  appeared  on  the  bat- 
tlements during  the  fight ;  subjoining  a 


XLbc  IWlbelungen  Xie& 


version  as  verbal  and  literal  as  the 
plainest  prose  can  make  it.  Considered 
as  a  detached  passage,  it  is,  perhaps, 
the  finest  we  have  met  with  in  the 
"Heldenbuch." 

I/ir  herz  brann  also  schoney 
Recht  als  ein  rot  riibein, 
Gleich  dent  vollen  nione 
Gaben  ihr  duglein  schein. 
Sick  hett  die  maget  reine 
Mil  Rosen  wohl  bekleid 
Und  audi  mit  berlin  kleine ; 
Nieinand  da  trost  die  ineid. 

Her  heart  burnt  (with  anxiety)  as  beautiful 

Just  as  a  red  ruby, 

Ivike  the  full  moon 

Her     eyes     (eyelings,     pretty     eyes)     gave 

sheen. 
Herself  had  the  maiden  pure 
Well  adorned  with  roses. 
And  also  with  pearls  small  : 
No  one  there  comforted  the  maid. 


(Tbe  IFllbclungen  ILieD  21 

Sie  war  schon  an  detn  leibe, 
Und  zu  den  seiten  schmal ; 
Recht  als  ein  kertze  scheibe 
Wohlgeschaffen  ii  derail  : 
Ihrbeyden  hand gemeine 
Dars  ihrgentz  nichts  gebrach  ; 
Ihr  7idglein  schon  und  reine^ 
Das  man  sich  darin  besach. 

She  was  fair  of  body, 

And  in  the  waist  slender  ; 

Right  as  a  (golden)  candlestick 

Well-fashioned  everywhere  : 

Her  two  hands  proper, 

So  that  she  wanted  nought : 

Her  little  nails  fair  and  pure, 

That  you  could  see  yourself  therein, 

Ihr  har  war  schon  umbfangen 
Mil  edler  seiden  fein  ; 
Das  Hess  sie  nieder  hangen, 
Das  hilbsche  magedlein. 
Sie  Irug  ein  kron  mil  sleinen, 
Sie  war  von  gold  so  rol  ; 
Elberich  detn  viel  kleinen 
War  zu  der  magte  not. 


^be  IFlibelungen  XlcO 


Her  hair  was  beautifully  girt 

With  noble  silk  (band)  fine  ; 

She  let  it  flow  down, 

The  lovely  maidling. 

She  wore  a  crown  with  jewels, 

It  was  of  gold  so  red  : 

For  Blberich  the  very  small 

The  maid  had  need  (to  console  her). 

Da  vornen  in  den  kronen 
Lag  ein  karfunkelstein, 
Der  in  dem  pallast  schonen 
Aecht  als  ein  kertz  erschein  ; 
Aufjrem  haupt  das  hare 
War  lauter  und  auchfein^ 
Es  leuchtet  also  klare 
Recht  als  der  sonnen  schein. 

There  in  front  of  the  crown 
Ivay  a  carbuncle-stone, 
Which  in  the  palace  fair 
Even  as  a  taper  seemed ; 
On  her  head  the  hair 
Was  glossy  and  also  fine, 
It  shone  as  bright 
Even  as  the  sun's  sheen. 


^be  IFlibelunaen  XleD  23 

Die  magt  die  stand  alleine, 
Gar  trawrig  zuarjr  niut ; 
Ihrfarb  U7id  die  war  reine^ 
Lieblich  we  milch  und  blut ; 
Her  durchjr  zopffe  reinen 
Schien  jr  hals  a  Is  der  schnee  : 
Elberich  dent  viel  kleine^i 
That  der  maget  jammer  weh. 

The  maid  she  stood  alone, 

Right  sad  was  her  mind  ; 

Her  color  it  was  pure, 

Lovely  as  milk  and  blood  ; 

Out  through  her  pure  locks 

Shone  her  neck  like  the  snow. 

Elberich  the  very  small 

Was  touched  with  the  maiden's  sorrow. 


Happy  man  was  Kaiser  Ottnit, 
blessed  with  such  a  wife,  after  all  his 
travail ; — had  not  the  Turk  Machabol 
cunningly  sent  him,  in  revenge,  a  box 
of  young  Dragons,  or  Dragon-eggs,  by 
the  hands  of  a  caitiff  Infidel,  contriver 


24  Zbc  IWibelungen  Xie^ 

of  the  mischief;  by  whom  in  due 
course  of  time  they  were  hatched  and 
nursed,  to  the  infinite  woe  of  all  lyam- 
partei,  and  ultimately  to  the  death  of 
Kaiser  Ottnit  himself,  whom  they  swal- 
lowed and  attempted  to  digest,  once 
without  effect,  but  the  next  time  too 
fatally,  crown  and  all  ! 

''Part  Second  announceth  (meldef) 
of  Herr  Hugdietrich  and  his  son  Wolf- 
dietrich  ;  how  the}^,  for  justice-sake, 
oft  by  their  doughty  acts  succored  dis- 
tressed persons,  with  other  bold  heroes 
that  stood  by  them  in  extremity." 

Concerning  which  Hugdietrich,  Em- 
peror of  Greece,  and  his  son  Wolf- 
dietrich,  one  day  the  renowned  Die- 
trich of  Bern,  we  can  here  say  little 
more  than  that  the  former  trained  him- 
self to  sempstress- work  ;  and  for  many 
weeks  plied  his  needle,  before  he  could 
get  wedded  and  produce  Wolfdietrich  ; 


Zbc  IWibelungen  %ic^  25 

who  coming  into  the  world  in  this  clan- 
destine manner,  was  let  down  into  the 
castle-ditch,  and  like  Romulus  and 
Remus  nursed  by  a  Wolf,  whence  his 
name.  However,  after  never-imagined 
adventures,  with  enchanters  and  en- 
chantresses, pagans  and  giants,  in  all 
quarters  of  the  globe,  he  finally,  with 
utmost  effort,  slaughtered  those  lyom- 
bardy  Dragons  ;  then  married  Kaiser 
Ottnit's  widow,  whom  he  had  rather 
flirted  with  before  ;  and  so  lived  uni- 
versally respected  in  his  new  empire, 
performing  yet  other  notable  achieve- 
ments. One  strange  property  he  had, 
sometimes  useful  to  him,  sometimes 
hurtful  :  that  his  breath,  when  he  be- 
came angry,  grew  flame,  red-hot,  and 
would  take  the  temper  out  of  swords. 
We  find  him  again  in  the  ' '  Nibelun- 
gen,"  among  King  Etzel's  (Attila's) 
followers  ;  a  staid,  cautious,  ^xt  still 


26  XLbc  IRibelunsen  XieD 

invincible  man  ;  on  which  occasion, 
though  with  great  reluctance,  he  is 
forced  to  interfere,  and  does  so  with 
effect.  Dietrich  is  the  favorite  hero  of 
all  those  Southern  Fictions,  and  well 
acknowledged  in  the  Northern  also, 
where  the  chief  man,  however,  as  we 
shall  find,  is  not  he  but  Siegfried. 

' '  Pari  Third  showeth  of  the  Rose- 
garden  at  Worms,  which  was  planted 
by  Chrimhilte,  King  Gibich's  daugh- 
ter ;  whereby  afterwards  most  part  of 
those  Heroes  and  Giants  came  to  de- 
struction and  were  slain." 

In  this  Third  Part  the  Southern  or 
Lombard  Heroes  come  into  contact 
and  collision  with  another  as  notable 
Northern  class,  and  for  us  much  more 
important.  Chriemhild,  whose  ulte- 
rior history  makes  such  a  figure  in  the 
"  Nibelungen,"  had,  it  would  seem, 
near  the   ancient    city   of  Worms,    a 


Rose-garden,  some  seven  English 
miles  in  circuit  ;  fenced  only  b}^  a  silk 
thread  ;  wherein,  however,  she  main- 
tained Twelve  stout  fighting-men  ; 
several  of  whom,  as  Hagen,  Volker, 
her  three  Brothers,  above  all  the  gal- 
lant Siegfried  her  betrothed,  we  shall 
meet  with  again  ;  these,  so  unspeaka- 
ble was  their  prowess,  sufficed  to  de- 
fend the  silk-thread  Garden  against  all 
mortals.  Our  good  antiquar>%  Von 
der  Hagen,  imagines  that  this  Rose- 
garden  business  (in  the  primeval  Tra- 
dition) glances  obliquel}'  at  the  Eclip- 
tic with  its  Twelve  Signs,  at  Jupiter's 
fight  with  the  Titans,  and  we  know 
not  what  confused  skirmishing  in  the 
Utgard,  or  Asgard,  or  Midgard  of  the 
Scandinavians.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
Chriemhild,  we  are  here  told,  being 
very  beautiful  and  vers^  wilful,  boasts, 
in  the  pride  of  her  heart,  that  no  he- 


28  Zbc  IRlbelungen  %ict> 

roes  on  earth  are  to  be  compared  with 
hers ;  and  hearing  accidentally  that 
Dietrich  of  Bern  has  a  high  character 
in  this  line,  forthwith  challenges  him 
to  visit  Worms,  and  with  eleven  picked 
men  to  do  battle  there  against  those 
other  Twelve  champions  of  Christen- 
dom that  watch  her  Rose-garden. 
Dietrich,  in  a  towering  passion  at  the 
style  of  the  message,  which  was 
* '  surly  and  stout, ' '  instantly  pitches 
upon  his  eleven  seconds,  who  also  are 
to  be  principals  ;  and  with  a  retinue 
of  other  sixty  thousand,  by  quick 
stages,  in  which  obstacles  enough  are 
overcome,  reaches  Worms,  and  de- 
clares himself  ready.  Among  these 
eleven  lyombard  heroes  of  his  are  like- 
wise several  whom  w^e  meet  with  again 
in  the  * '  Nibelungen  ' '  ;  beside  Dietrich 
himself,  we  have  the  old  Duke  Hilde- 
brand,    Wolfhart,    Ortwin.       Notable 


Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD  29 

among  them,  in  another  wa}^  is  Monk 
Ilsan,  a  truculent  gray-bearded  fellow, 
equal  to  any  Friar  Tuck  in  ''  Robin 
Hood." 

The  conditions  of  fight  are  soon 
agreed  on  :  there  are  to  be  twelve 
successive  duels,  each  challenger  being 
expected  to  find  his  match  ;  and  the 
prize  of  victory  is  a  Rose-garland  from 
Chriemhild  and  ei?i  Helssen  und  ein 
K'iissen,  that  is  to  say  virtuall}^,  one 
kiss  from  her  fair  lips  to  each.  But 
here,  as  it  ever  should  do,  Pride  gets  a 
fall  ;  for  Chriemhild' s  bully-hectors 
are,  in  divers  ways,  all  successively 
felled  to  the  ground  by  the  Bemers  ; 
some  of  whom,  as  old  Hildebrand,  will 
not  even  take  her  Kiss  when  it  is  due  ; 
even  Siegfried  himself,  most  reluctantly 
engaged  with  by  Dietrich,  and  for  a 
while  victorious,  is  at  last  forced  to 
seek  shelter  in  her  lap.     Nay,   Monk 


30  Jlhc  IRibclungcn  %ictf 

Ilsan,  after  the  regular  fight  is  over, 
and  his  part  in  it  well  performed,  calls 
out  in  succession  fifty-two  other  idle 
Champions  of  the  Garden,  part  of  them 
Giants,  and  routs  the  whole  fraternity, 
thereby  earning,  besides  his  own  regu- 
lar allowance,  fifty- two  spare  Garlands 
and  fifty-two  several  Kisses  ;  in  the 
course  of  which  latter,  Chriemhild's 
cheek,  a  just  punishment,  as  seemed, 
was  scratched  to  the  drawing  of  blood 
by  his  rough  beard.  It  only  remains 
to  be  added,  that  King  Gibich,  Chriem- 
hild's Father,  is  now  fain  to  do  homage 
for  his  kingdom  to  Dietrich,  who 
returns  triumphant  to  his  own  country  ; 
where  also  Monk  Ilsan,  according  to 
promise,  distributes  these  fifty-two 
Garlands  among  his  fellow  Friars, 
crushing  a  garland  on  the  bare  crown 
of  each,  till  ''the  red  blood  ran  over 
their  ears."     Under  which  hard  but 


not  undeserved  treatment  they  all 
agreed  to  pray  for  remission  of  Ilsan's 
sins  ;  indeed,  such  as  continued  refrac- 
tor}^ he  tied  together  by  the  beards  and 
hung  pair-wise  over  poles,  whereby 
the  stoutest  soon  gave  in. 

So  endeth  here  this  ditty 
Of  strife  from  woman's  pride  : 
God  on  our  griefs  take  pity, 
And  Mary  still  by  us  abide. 

"  In  Par^  Fourth  is  announced 
(^gemeW)  of  the  little  King  I^aurin,  the 
Dwarf,  how  he  encompassed  his  Rose- 
garden  with  so  great  manhood  and  art- 
magic,  till  at  last  he  was  vanquished  by 
the  heroes,  and  forced  to  become  their 
Juggler,  with  etc. ,  etc. ' ' 

Of  which  Fourth  and,  happily,  last 
part  we  shall  here  say  nothing,  inas- 
much as,  except  that  certain  of  our 
old  heroes  again  figure   there,  it  has 


32  Zbc  IRibelungcn  XieD 

no  coherence  or  connection  with  the 
rest  of  the  "  Heldenbuch,"  and  is 
simply  a  new  tale,  which,  by  way  of 
episode,  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen,  as 
we  learn  from  his  own  words,  had  sub- 
sequently appended  thereto.     He  says  : 

Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen 
This  story  hath  been  singing, 
To  the  joy  of  Princes  bold, 
They  gave  him  silver  and  gold. 
Moreover  pennies  and  garments  rich  : 
Here  endeth  this  Book  the  which 
Doth  sing  our  noble  Heroes'  story  : 
God  help  us  all  to  heavenly  glory. 

Such  is  some  outline  of  the  famous 
"  Heldenbuch,"  on  which  it  is  not  our 
business  here  to  add  any  criticism. 
The  fact  that  it  has  so  long  been  popu- 
lar betokens  a  certain  worth  in  it,  the 
kind  and  degree  of  which  is  also  in 
some  measure  apparent.  In  poetry 
"the  rude   man,"   it  has  been   said, 


^be  IRibelungen  XfeD  33 

' '  requires  only  to  see  something  going 
on  ;  the  man  of  more  refinement  wishes 
to  feel  ;  the  truly  refined  man  must  be 
made  to  reflect. ' '  For  the  first  of  these 
classes  our  "  Hero-book,"  as  has  been 
apparent  enough,  provides  in  abun- 
dance ;  for  the  other  two  scantily, — in- 
deed for  the  second  not  at  all.  Nev- 
ertheless our  estimate  of  this  work, 
which,  as  a  series  of  Antique  Traditions, 
may  have  considerable  meaning,  is  apt 
rather  to  be  too  low.  Let  us  remember 
that  this  is  not  the  original  ' '  Helden- 
buch ' '  which  we  now  see,  but  only  a 
version  of  it  into  the  Knight-errant 
dialect  of  the  thirteenth,  indeed  partly 
of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies, with  all  the  fantastic  monstrosi- 
ties, now  so  trivial,  pertaining  to  that 
style  ;  under  which  disguises  the  really 
antique  earnest  groundwork,  interest- 
ing as  old  Thought  if  not  as  old 
3 


34  tTbe  IRibelungen  XleD 

Poetry,  is  all  but  quite  obscured  from 
us.  But  Antiquarian  diligence  is  now 
busy  with  the  "  Heldenbuch  "  also, 
from  which  what  light  is  in  it  will 
doubtless  be  elicited,  and  here  and 
there  a  deformity  removed.  Though 
the  Kthiop  cannot  change  his  skin, 
there  is  no  need  that  even  he  should 
go  abroad  unwashed.* 

Casper  von  Roen,  or  whoever  was 
the  ultimate  redactor  of  the  ' '  Helden- 
buch," whom  lycssing  designates  as 
"a  highly  ill-informed  man,"  would 
have  done  better  had  he  quite  omitted 

♦Our  inconsiderable  knowledge  of  the  "  Helden- 
buch ' '  is  derived  from  various  secondary  sources, 
chiefly  from  Ivcssing's  "  Werke "  (b.  xiii.),  where 
the  reader  will  find  an  epitome  of  the  whole  Poem, 
with  Extracts  by  Herr  Fiilleborn,  from  which  the 
above  are  taken.  A  still  more  accessible  and  larger 
Abstract,  with  long  specimens  translated  into  verse, 
stands  in  the  "  Illustrations  of  Northern  Antiquities  " 
(pp.  45-167).  Von  der  Hagen  has  .since  been  employed 
specially  on  the  "Heldenbuch,"  with  what  result 
we  have  not  yet  learned. 


XTbe  Btbelimgcn  Xie&  35 

that  little  King  lyaurin,  ' '  and  his  lit- 
tle Rose-garden, ' '  which  properly  is  no 
Rose-garden  at  all  ;  and  instead 
thereof  introduced  the  "  Gehomte 
Siegfried"  (Behorned Siegfried),  whose 
history  lies  at  the  heart  of  the  whole 
Northern  Traditions ;  and,  under  a 
rude  prose  dress,  is  to  this  day  a  real 
child' s-book  and  people' s-book  among 
the  Germans.  Of  this  Siegfried  we 
have  already  seen  somewhat  in  the 
Rose-garden  at  Worms  ;  and  shall  ere- 
long see  much  more  elsewhere  ;  for  he 
is  the  chief  hero  of  the  ' '  Nibelungen ' ' : 
indeed  nowhere  can  we  dip  into  those 
old  Fictions,  whether  in  Scandinavia 
or  the  Rhine-land,  but  under  one  figure 
or  another,  whether  as  Dragon-killer 
and  Prince-royal,  or  as  Blacksmith  and 
Horse-subduer,  as  Sigurd,  Sivrit,  Sieg- 
fried, we  are  sure  to  light  on  him.  As 
his   early   adventures    belong   to    the 


36  Zbe  IFllbelungen  %ict> 

strange  sort,  and  will  afterwards  con- 
cern us  not  a  little,  we  shall  here  en- 
deavor to  piece  together  some  consistent 
outline  of  them  ;  so  far,  indeed,  as  that 
ma}^  be  possible  ;  for  his  biographers, 
agreeing  in  the  main  points,  differ 
widely  in  the  details. 

First,  then,  let  no  one  from  the  title 
''Gehornte"  (Homed,  Behomed), 
fancy  that  our  brave  Siegfried,  who 
was  the  loveliest  as  well  as  the  bravest 
of  men,  was  actually  cornuted,  and  had 
horns  on  his  brow,  though  like 
Michael  Angelo's  Moses  ;  or  even  that 
his  skin,  to  which  the  epithet  Behomed 
refers,  was  hard  like  a  crocodile's,  and 
not  softer  than  the  softest  sliamoy  ;  for 
the  truth  is,  his  Hornedness  means 
only  an  Invulnerability,  like  that  of 
Achilles  ;  which  he  came  by  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  All  men  agree  that 
Siegfried  was  a  king's   son  ;  he  was 


tTbe  IWibelungen  XieD  37 

born,  as  we  here  have  good  reason  to 
know,  ' '  at  Santen  in  Netherland, ' '  of 
Siegemund  and  the  fair  Siegelinde  ; 
yet  by  some  family  misfortune  or  dis- 
cord, of  which  the  accounts  are  very 
various,  he  came  into  singular  straits 
during  boj^hood ;  having  passed  that 
happy  period  of  life,  not  under  the 
canopies  of  costlj^  state,  but  by  the 
sooty  stithy,  in  one  Mimer  a  Black- 
smith's shop.  Here,  however,  he  was 
nowise  in  his  proper  element ;  ever 
quarrelling  with  his  fellow- apprentices; 
nay,  as  some  say,  breaking  the  hardest 
anvils  into  shivers  by  his  too  stout 
hammering.  So  that  Mimer,  other- 
wise a  first-rate  Smith,  could  by  no 
means  do  with  him  there.  He  sends 
him,  accordingly,  to  the  neighboring 
forest  to  fetch  charcoal ;  well  aware 
that  a  monstrous  Dragon,  one  Regin, 
the  Smith's  own  Brother,  would  meet 


38  ^be  IRlbelungen  XieD 

him  and  devour  him.  But  far  other- 
wise it  proved.  Siegfried  by  main 
force  slew  this  Dragon,  or  rather 
Dragonized  Smith 's-Brother;  made 
broth  of  him  ;  and,  warned  by  some 
significant  phenomena,  bathed  therein; 
or,  as  others  assert,  bathed  directly  in 
the  monster's  blood,  without  cookery  ; 
and  hereby  attained  that  Invulner- 
ability, complete  in  all  respects,  save 
that  between  his  shoulders,  where  a 
lime-tree  leaf  chanced  to  settle  and 
stick  during  the  process,  there  was  one 
little  spot,  a  fatal  spot  as  afterwards 
turned  out,  left  in  its  natural  state. 

Siegfried,  now  seeing  through  the 
craft  of  the  Smith,  returned  home  and 
slew  him  ;  then  set  forth  in  search  of 
adventures,  the  bare  catalogue  of  which 
were  long  to  recite.  We  mention  only 
two,  as  subsequently  of  moment  both 
for  him  and  for  us.     He  is  by  some 


^be  naibelungen  X(eD  39 

said  to  have  courted,  and  then  jilted, 
the  fair  and  proud  Queen  Brunhild  of 
Isenland  ;  nay,  to  have  thrown  down 
the  seven  gates  of  her  Castle  ;  and 
then  ridden  off  with  her  wild  horse 
Gana,  having  mounted  him  in  the 
meadow,  and  instantly  broken  him. 
Some  cross  passages  between  him  and 
Queen  Brunhild,  who  understood  no 
jesting,  there  must  clearly  have  been, 
so  angry  is  her  recognition  of  him  in 
the  * '  Nibelungen ' '  ;  nay,  she  bears  a 
lasting  grudge  against  him  there  ;  as 
he,  and  indeed  she  also,  one  day  too 
sorely  felt. 

His  other  grand  adventure  is  with 
the  two  sons  of  the  deceased  King 
Nibelung,  in  Nibelungen-land.  These 
two  youths,  to  whom  their  father  had 
bequeathed  a  Hoard  or  Treasure,  be- 
yond all  price  or  computation,  Sieg- 
fried, "  riding  by  alone,"  found  on  the 


40  ^be  IRibeluncien  XtcD 

side  of  a  mountain,  in  a  state  of  great 
perplexity.  They  had  brought  out 
the  Treasure  from  the  cave  where  it 
usually  lay  ;  but  how  to  part  it  was 
the  dijB&cult}^ ;  for,  not  to  speak  of  gold, 
there  were  as  man}^  jewels  alone  "as 
twelve  wagons  in  four  days  and  nights, 
each  going  three  journeys,  could  carry 
away  ' '  ;  nay,  ' '  however  much  you 
took  from  it,  there  was  no  diminu- 
tion"  :  besides,  in  real  property,  a 
Sword,  Balmung,  of  great  potency  ;  a 
Divining-rod,  * '  which  gave  power 
over  every  one";  and  a  Tarnkappe 
(or  Cloak  of  Darkness),  which  not 
only  rendered  the  wearer  invisible,  but 
also  gave  him  twelve  men's  strength. 
So  that  the  two  Princes  Ro^^al,  without 
counsel  save  from  their  Twelve  stupid 
Giants,  knew  not  how  to  fall  upon  any 
amicable  arrangement ;  and,  seeing 
Siegfried  ride  by  so  opportunely,   re- 


Zbc  IRlbelungen  XfeD  41 

quested  him  to  be  arbiter ;  offering  also 
the  Sword  Balmung  for  his  trouble. 
Siegfried,  who  readily  undertook  the 
impossible  problem,  did  his  best  to 
accomplish  it ;  but,  of  course,  without 
effect;  nay,  the  two  Nibelungen  Princes, 
being  of  choleric  temper,  grew  impa- 
tient, and  provoked  him ;  whereupon 
with  the  Sword  Balmung  he  slew  them 
both,  and  their  Twelve  Giants  (per- 
haps originally  Signs  of  the  Zodiac)  to 
boot.  Thus  did  the  famous  Nibehui- 
gen  Hort  (Hoard),  and  indeed  the 
whole  Nibelun gen-land,  come  into  his 
possession ;  wearing  the  Sword  Bal- 
mung, and  having  slain  the  two 
Princes  and  their  Champions,  what  was 
there  further  to  oppose  him  ?  Vainly 
did  the  Dwarf  Alberich,  our  old  friend 
Elberich  of  the  *' Heldenbuch,"  w^ho 
had  now  become  special  keeper  of  this 
Hoard,  attempt  some  resistance  with  a 


42  ^be  IFlibelungcn  XieD 

Dwarf  Army ;  he  was  driven  back 
into  the  cave  ;  plundered  of  his  Tarn- 
kappe ;  and  obliged,  with  all  his  myr- 
midons, to  swear  fealty  to  the  con- 
queror, whom  indeed  thenceforth  he 
and  they  punctually  obeyed. 

Whereby  Siegfried  might  now  further 
style  himself  King  of  the  Nibelungen ; 
master  of  the  infinite  Nibelungen 
Hoard  (collected  doubtless  by  art- 
magic  in  the  beginning  of  Time,  in 
the  deep  bowels  of  the  Universe), with 
the  Wunschelruthe  (Wishing  or  Divin- 
ing-rod) pertaining  thereto  ;  owner  of 
the  Tarnkappe^  which  he  ever  after 
kept  by  him,  to  put  on  at  will ;  and 
though  last  not  least,  Bearer  and 
Wielder  of  the  Sword  Balmung,*  by 

*  By  this  Sword  Balmuiig  also  hangs  a  tale.  Doubt- 
less it  was  one  of  those  invaluable  weapons  some- 
times fabricated  by  the  old  Northern  Smiths,  com- 
pared with  which  our  modern  Foxes  and  Ferraras 
and  Toledos  are  mere  leaden  tools.    Von  der  Hagen 


XLbc  'UibclnrxQcn  XlcD  43 

the  keen  edge  of  which  all  this  gain 
had  come  to  him.  To  which  last 
acquisitions  adding  his  previously 
acquired  Invulnerability,  and  his 
natural  dignities  as  Prince  of  Nether- 
land,  he  might  well  show  himself  before 
the  foremost  at  Worms  or  elsewhere, 
and  attempt  any  the  highest  adventure 
that   fortune   could  cut  out   for  him. 

seems  to  think  it  simply  the  Sword  Mimung  under 
another  name  ;  in  which  case  Siegfried's  old  master, 
Mimer,  had  been  the  maker  of  it,  and  called  it  after 
himself,  as  if  it  had  been  his  son.  In  Scandinavian 
chronicles,  veridical  or  not,  we  have  the  following 
account  of  that  transaction.  Mimer  (or,  as  some 
have  it,  surely  without  ground,  one  Velint,  once  an 
apprentice  of  his)  was  challenged  by  another  Crafts- 
man, named  Amilias,  who  boasted  that  he  had  made 
a  suit  of  armor  which  no  stroke  could  dint,— to  equal 
that  feat,  or  own  himself  the  second  Smith  then 
extant.  This  last  the  stout  Mimer  would  in  no  case 
do,  but  proceeded  to  forge  the  Sword  INIimung  ;  with 
which,  when  it  was  finished,  he,  "in  presence  of  the 
King,"  cut  asunder  "  a  thread  of  wool  floating  on 
water."  This  would  have  seemed  a  fair  fire-edge  to 
most  smiths  :  not  so  to  ]Mimer  ;  he  sawed  the  blade 
in  pieces,  welded  it  in  "a  red-hot  fire  for  three  days, ' ' 


44  ^be  Iftibelungen  XieD 

However,  his  subsequent  history  be- 
longs all  to  the  * '  Nibelungen  Song  "  ;  at 
which  fair  garden  of  poesy  we  are  now, 
through  all  these  shaggy  wildernesses 
and  enchanted  w^oods,  finally  arrived. 

Apart  from  its  antiquarian  value, 
and  not  only  as  by  far  the  finest  monu- 
ment of  old  German  art,  but  intrinsi- 

tempered  it  "  with  milk  and  oatmeal,"  and  by  much 
other  cunning  brought  out  a  sword  that  severed  "  a 
ball  of  wool  floating  on  water."  But  neither  would 
this  suffice  him  ;  he  returned  to  his  smithy,  and,  by 
means  known  only  to  himself,  produced,  in  the 
course  of  seven  weeks,  a  third  and  final  edition  of 
Mimung,  which  split  asunder  a  whole  floating  pack 
of  wool.  The  comparative  trial  now  took  place 
forthwith.  Amilias,  cased  in  his  impenetrable  coat 
of  mail,  sat  down  on  a  bench,  in  presence  of  assem- 
bled thousands,  and  bade  Mimer  strike  him.  Mimer 
fetched  of  course  his  best  blow,  on  which  Amilias 
observed,  that  there  was  a  strange  feeling  of  cold 
iron  in  his  inwards.  "  Shake  thyself,"  said  Mimer  ; 
the  luckless  wight  did  so,  and  fell  in  two  halves, 
being  cleft  sheer  through  from  collar  to  haunch, 
never  more  to  swing  hammer  in  this  world.  See 
"  Illustrations  of  Northern  Antiquities,"  p.  31. 


tlbe  BibelunQen  %ict>  45 

cally,  and  as  a  mere  detached  composi- 
tion, this  *'  Nibelungen  "  has  an 
excellence  that  cannot  but  surprise  us. 
With  little  preparation,  any  reader  of 
poetry,  even  in  these  days,  might  find 
it  interesting.  It  is  not  without  a 
certain  Unity  of  interest  and  purport,, 
an  internal  coherence  and  complete- 
ness ;  it  is  a  Whole,  and  some  spirit  of 
Music  informs  it :  these  are  the  highest 
characteristics  of  a  true  Poem.  Con- 
sidering further  what  intellectual 
environment  we  now  find  it  in,  it  is 
doubly  to  be  prized  and  wondered  at ; 
for  it  differs  from  those  "  Hero-books," 
as  molten  or  carved  metal  does  from 
rude  agglomerated  ore  ;  almost  as  some 
Shakespeare  from  his  fellow  Drama- 
tists, whose  "  Tamburlaines  "  and 
"  Island  Princesses,"  themselves  not 
destitute  of  merit,  first  show  us  clearly 
in  what  pure  loftiness  and  loneliness 


46  ^be  IFllbelunQcn  XicD 

the   ''Hamlets"    and    "Tempests" 
reign. 

The  unknown  Singer  of  the  ' '  Nibe- 
lungen,"  though  no  Shakespeare, 
must  have  had  a  deep  poetic  soul ; 
wherein  things  discontinuous  and  in- 
animate shaped  themselves  together 
into  life,  and  the  Universe  with  its 
wondrous  purport  stood  significantly 
imaged  ;  overarching,  as  with  heavenly- 
firmaments  and  eternal  harmonies,  the 
little  scene  where  men  strut  and  fret 
their  hour.  His  Poem,  unlike  so  many 
old  and  new  pretenders  to  that  name, 
has  a  basis  and  organic  structure,  a 
beginning,  middle,  and  end  ;  there  is 
one  great  principle  and  idea  set  forth 
in  it,  round  which  all  its  multifarious 
parts  combine  in  living  union.  Re- 
markable it  is,  moreover,  how  along 
with  this  essence  and  primary  condi- 
tion of  all  poetic  virtue,    the  minor 


^be  IFlibcIungen  XfeD  47 

external  virtues  of  what  we  call  Taste 
and  so  forth,  are,  as  it  were,  presup- 
posed ;  and  the  living  soul  of  Poetry- 
being  there,  its  body  of  incidents,  its 
garment  of  language,  come  of  their 
own  accord.  So  too  in  the  case  of 
Shakespeare  :  his  feeling  of  propriety, 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  Marlowes 
and  Fletchers,  his  quick  sure  sense  of 
what  is  fit  and  unfit,  either  in  act  or 
word,  might  astonish  us,  had  he  no 
other  superiority.  But  true  Inspira- 
tion, as  it  may  well  do,  includes  that 
same  Taste,  or  rather  a  far  higher  and 
heartfelt  Taste,  of  which  that  other 
' '  elegant ' '  species  is  but  an  ineffectual, 
irrational  apery.  Let  us  see  the  herald 
Mercury  actually  descend  from  his 
Heaven,  and  the  bright  wings,  and 
the  graceful  movement  of  these,  will 
not  be  wanting. 

With  an  instinctive  art,  far  different 


48  ^be  IFlibelungen  XieD 

from  acquired  artifice,  this  Poet  of  the 
''Nibelungen,"  working  in  the  same 
province  with  his  contemporaries  of 
the  "  Heldenbuch,"  on  the  same 
material  of  tradition,  has,  in  a  wonder- 
ful degree,  possessed  himself  of  what 
these  could  only  strive  after  ;  and,  with 
his  "  clear  feeling  of  fictitious  truth," 
avoided  as  false  the  errors  and  mon- 
strous perplexities  in  which  they  vainly 
struggled.  He  is  of  another  species 
than  they ;  in  language,  in  purity 
and  depth  of  feeling,  in  fineness  of 
invention,  stands  quite  apart  from 
them. 

The  language  of  the  "  Heldenbuch," 
as  we  saw  above,  was  a  feeble  half- 
articulate  child' s-speech,  the  metre 
nothing  better  than  a  miserable  dog- 
gerel ;  whereas  here  in  the  old  Prankish 
{Oberdeutsch')  dialect  of  the  "  Nibe- 
lungen,"   we    have   a   clear,    decisive 


tibe  IKKbcUingcn  %ic^  49 

utterance,  and  in  a  real  system  of  verse, 
not  without  essential  regularity,  great 
liveliness,  and  now  and  then  even  har- 
mou}^  of  rhythm.  Doubtless  we  must 
often  call  it  a  diffuse,  diluted  utterance  ; 
at  the  same  time  it  is  genuine,  with  a 
certain  antique,  garrulous  heartiness, 
and  has  a  rhythm  in  the  thoughts  as 
well  as  the  words.  The  simplicity  is 
never  silly  :  even  in  that  perpetual 
recurrence  of  epithets,  sometimes  of 
rhymes,  as  where  two  words,  for  in- 
stance lip  (body,  life,  /ez5)  and  wzp 
(woman,  wife,  wetd)  are  indissolubly 
wedded  together,  and  the  one  never 
shows  itself  without  the  other  follow^- 
ing, — there  is  something  which  reminds 
us  not  so  much  of  poverty,  as  of  trust- 
fulness and  childlike  innocence.  In- 
deed a  strange  charm  lies  in  those  old 
tones,  where,  in  gay  dancing  melodies, 
the  sternest  tidings  are  sung  to  us  ; 


50  ^be  IRibelun^en  Xie^ 

and  deep  floods  of  Sadness  and  Strife 
play  lightly  in  little  curling  billows, 
like  seas  in  summer.  It  is  as  a  meek 
smile,  in  whose  still,  thoughtful  depths 
a  whole  infinitude  of  patience,  and 
love,  and  heroic  strength  lie  revealed. 
But  in  other  cases  too,  we  have  seen 
this  outward  sport  and  inward  earnest- 
ness offer  grateful  contrast,  and  cun- 
ning excitement  ;  for  example,  in 
Tasso  ;  of  whom,  though  otherwise 
different  enough,  this  old  Northern 
Singer  has  more  than  once  reminded 
us.  There  too,  as  here,  w^e  have  a 
dark,  solemn  meaning  in  light  guise ; 
deeds  of  high  temper,  harsh  self-denial, 
daring,  and  death  stand  embodied  in 
that  soft,  quick-flowing,  joyfully 
modulated  verse.  Nay,  further,  as  if 
the  implement,  much  more  than  we 
might  fancy,  had  influenced  the  work 
done,  these  two  Poems,  could  we  trust 


Zbc  IRibelungen  XleD  51 

our  individual  feeling,  have  in  one 
respect  the  same  poetical  result  for  us. 
In  the  ' '  Nibelungen  "  as  in  the  ' '  Geru- 
salemme, ' '  the  persons  and  their  story- 
are  indeed  brought  vividly  before  us, 
yet  not  near  and  palpably  present ;  it 
is  rather  as  if  we  looked  on  that  scene 
through  an  inverted  telescope,  whereby 
the  whole  was  carried  far  away  into 
the  distance,  the  life-large  figures 
compressed  into  brilliant  miniatures, 
so  clear,  so  real,  yet  tiny,  elf-like  and 
beautified  as  well  as  lessened,  their 
colors  being  now  closer  and  brighter, 
the  shadows  and  trivial  features  no 
longer  visible.  This,  as  we  partly 
apprehend,  comes  of  singing  Epic 
Poems  ;  most  part  of  which  only  pre- 
tend to  be  sung.  Tasso's  rich  melody- 
still  lives  among  the  Italian  people  ; 
the  ' '  Nibelungen  ' '  also  is  what  it 
professes  to  be,  a  *'  Song." 


52  ^be  Bibelungcn  XieO 

No  less  striking  than  the  verse  and 
language  is  the  quality  of  the  inven- 
tion manifested  here.  Of  the  Fable, 
or  narrative  material  of  the  ' '  Nibelun- 
gen  ' '  we  should  say  that  it  had  high, 
almost  the  highest  merit ;  so  daintily 
yet  firmly  is  it  put  together  ;  with  such 
felicitous  selection  of  the  beautiful, 
the  essential,  and  no  less  felicitous  re- 
jection of  whatever  was  unbeautiful  or 
even  extraneous.  The  reader  is  no 
longer  afflicted  with  that  chaotic  brood 
of  Fire-drakes,  Giants,  and  malicious, 
turbaned  Turks,  so  fatally  rife  in  the 
'  *  Heldenbuch. ' '  All  this  is  swept  away, 
or  only  hovers  in  faint  shadows  afar  off, 
and  free  field  is  open  for  legitimate 
perennial  interests.  Yet  neither  is  the 
"  Nibelungen  "  without  its  wonders, 
for  it  is  poetry  and  not  prose  ;  here, 
too,  a  supernatural  world  encompasses 
the  natural,  and,  though  at  rare  inter- 


Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD  53 

vals  and  in  calm  manner,  reveals  itself 
there.  It  is  truly  wonderful,  with 
what  skill  our  simple  untaught  Poet 
deals  with  the  marvellous  ;  admitting 
it  without  reluctance  or  criticism,  yet 
precisely  in  the  degree  and  shape  that 
will  best  avail  him.  Here,  if  in  no 
other  respect,  we  should  say  that  he 
has  a  decided  superiority  to  Homer 
himself.  The  whole  story  of  the 
''  Nibelungen  "  is  fateful,  mysterious, 
guided  on  by  unseen  influences  ;  yet 
the  actual  marvels  are  few,  and  done 
in  the  far  distance.  Those  Dwarfs, 
and  Cloaks  of  Darkness,  and  charmed 
Treasure-caves  are  heard  of  rather 
than  beheld  ;  the  tidings  of  them  seem 
to  issue  from  unknown  space.  Vain 
were  it  to  inquire  where  that  Nibelun- 
gen-land  specially  is  :  its  very  name  is 
Nebel-land  or  Nifl-land,  the  land  of 
Darkness,  of  Invisibility.    The  "  Nibe- 


54  ^be  IRibelungen  XieD 

lungen-Heroes,"  that  muster  in  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands,  though 
they  march  to  the  Rhine  or  Danube, 
and  we  see  their  strong  limbs  and  shin- 
ing armor,  we  could  almost  fancy  to 
be  children  of  the  air.  Far  beyond 
the  firm  horizon,  that  wonder-bearing 
region  swims  on  the  infinite  waters  ; 
unseen  by  bodily  eye,  or  at  most  dis- 
cerned as  a  faint  streak,  hanging  in  the 
blue  depths,  uncertain  whether  island 
or  cloud.  And  thus  the  ' '  Nibelungen 
Song, ' '  though  based  on  the  bottomless 
foundations  of  Spirit,  and  not  unvis- 
ited  of  skyey  messengers,  is  a  real, 
rounded,  habitable  Earth,  where  we 
find  firm  footing,  and  the  wondrous  and 
the  common  live  amicably  together. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  difiicult  to  find  any 
Poet  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  who 
in  this  trying  problem  has  steered  his 
way  with  greater  delicacy  and  success. 


^be  IFlibelunaen  XicD  55 

To  any  of  our  readers  who  may 
have  personally  studied  the  "  Nibe- 
lungen,"  these  high  praises  of  ours 
will  not  seem  exaggerated  :  the  rest, 
who  are  the  vast  majority,  must  en- 
deavor to  accept  them  with  some  de- 
gree of  faith,  at  least  of  curiosity  ;  to 
vindicate,  and  judicially  substantiate 
them  would  far  exceed  our  present  op- 
portunities. Nay,  in  any  case,  the 
criticisms,  the  alleged  Characteristics 
of  a  Poem  are  so  many  Theorems, 
which  are  indeed  enunciated,  truly  or 
falsely,  but  the  Demonstration  of  which 
must  be  sought  for  in  the  reader's  own 
study  and  experience.  Nearly  all 
that  can  be  attempted  here  is  some 
hasty  epitome  of  the  mere  Narrative  ; 
no  substantial  image  of  the  work,  but  a 
feeble  outline  and  shadow.  To  which 
task,  as  the  personages  and  their  en- 
vironment have  already  been  in  some 


56  ^bc  IRibelungcn  XieD 

degree  illustrated,  we  can  now  proceed 
without  obstacle. 

The  ' '  Nibelungen  ' '  has  been  called 
the  Northern  Epos  ;  j^et  it  has,  in  great 
part,  a  Dramatic  character :  those 
thirty-nine  Aventitiren  (Adventures), 
which  it  consists  of,  might  be  so  many 
scenes  in  a  Tragedy.  The  catastrophe 
is  dimly  prophesied  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  and,  at  every  fresh  step,  rises 
more  and  more  clearly  into  view.  A 
shadow  of  coming  Fate,  as  it  were,  a 
low  inarticulate  voice  of  Doom  falls, 
from  the  first,  out  of  that  charmed 
Nibelungen-land  :  the  discord  of  two 
women  is  as  a  little  spark  of  evil  pas- 
sion, which  erelong  enlarges  itself 
into  a  crime ;  foul  murder  is  done  ; 
and  now  the  Sin  rolls  on  like  a  de- 
vouring fire,  till  the  guilty  and  the  in- 
nocent are  alike  encircled  with  it,  and 


Zbc  IFlibeluncjen  %\c^  57 

a  whole  land  is  ashes,  and  a  whole 
race  is  swept  away. 

C/ns  ist  in  alien  mcsren  Wunders  vil geseit, 
Von  helden  lobebcsren     Von  grozer  chiion- 

heit ; 
Von  vrouden  und'  hoch-geziten,     Von  zvei- 

nen  tend  von  chlagen, 
Von  chuner  rechcn  strife n,     Miiget  ir  nu 

wunder  horen  sagen. 

We  find  in  ancient  story     Wonders   many 

told, 
Of  heroes  in  great  glory     With  spirit  free 

and  bold  ; 
Of  joyances  and  high-tides,     Of  weeping  and 

of  woe, 
Of  noble   Recken  striving.     Mote  ye  now 

wonders  know. 

This  is  the  brief  artless  Proem  ;  and 
the  promise  contained  in  it  proceeds 
directly  towards  fulfilment.  In  the 
very  second  stanza  we  learn  : 


58  ^be  IRibeluncjcn  %\ct> 

Es  wuhs  m  Burgonden  Ein  vil  edel  mage- 
din, 

Das  in  alien  landen  Niht  schoners  mohte 
sin  ; 

Chrienihilt  was  si  geheien,  Si  wart  ei?t 
schone  zvip  ; 

Darumbe  nmsett  degene  Vil  verliesen  den 
lip. 

A  right  noble  maiden  Did  grow  in  Bur- 
gundy, 

That  in  all  lands  of  earth  Nought  fairer 
mote  there  be  ; 

Chriemhild  of  Worms  she  hight,  She  was  a 
fairest  wife  ; 

For  the  which  must  warriors  A  many  lose 
their  life.* 

*  This  is  the  first  of  a  thousand  instances  in  which 
the  two  inseparables,  wip  and  lip,  or  in  modern 
tongue  weib  and  leib,  as  mentioned  above,  appear 
together.  From  these  two  opening  stanzas  of  the 
*' Nibelungen  L,ied,"  in  its  purest  form,  the  reader 
may  obtain  some  idea  of  the  versification.  It  runs  on 
in  more  or  less  regular  Alexandrines,  with  a  ccesural 
pause  in  each,  where  the  capital  letter  occurs  ;  in- 
deed, the  lines  seem  originally  to  have  been  divided 
into  two  at  that  point,  for  sometimes,  as  in  Stanza 


Ebe  IFllbelungen  XicD  59 

Chriemhild,  this  world's- wonder,  a 
king's  daughter  and  king's  sister,  and 
no  less  coy  and  proud  than  fair,  dreams 
one  night  that  ' '  she  had  petted  a  fal- 
con, strong,  beautiful,  and  wild  ;  which 
two  eagles  snatched  away  from  her  : 
this  she  was  forced  to  see  ;  greater  sor- 
row felt  she  never  in  the  world. ' '  Her 
mother,  Ute,  to  whom  she  relates  the 
vision,  soon  redes  it  for  her  ;  the  falcon 
is  a  noble  husband,  whom,  God  keep 
him,  she  must  suddenly  lose.  Chriem- 
hild declares  warmly  for  the  single 
state  ;  as,  indeed,  living  there  at  the 
Court  of  Worms,  with  her  brothers, 
Gunther,    Gemot,    Geiselher,    "  three 

First,  the  middle  words  {mczren,  lobebceren  ;  geziten, 
striten)  also  rhyme  ;  but  this  is  rather  a  rare  case. 
The  word  rechen  or  recken,  used  iu  the  First  Stanza, 
is  the  constant  designation  for  bold  fighters,  and  has 
the  same  root  with  rich  (thus  in  old  French,  ho7nmes 
riches  ;  in  Spanish,  ricos  hombres),  which  last  is  here 
also  synonymous  with  powerful,  and  is  applied  to 
kings,  and  even  to  the  Almighty,  Got  dent  richen. 


6o  nbe  Bibclungen  Xic& 

kings  noble  and  ricli,"  in  such  pomp 
and  renown,  the  pride  of  Burgunden- 
land  and  Earth,  she  might  readily 
enough  have  changed  for  the  worse. 
However,  dame  Ute  bids  her  not  to  be 
too  emphatical ;  for  ''  if  ever  she  have 
heartfelt  joy  in  life,  it  will  be  from 
man's  love,  and  she  shall  be  a  fair  wife 
(wip),  when  God  sends  her  a  right 
worthy  Ritter's  lip.''  Chriemhild  is 
more  in  earnest  than  maidens  usually 
are  when  they  talk  thus  ;  it  appears 
she  guarded  against  love,  ' '  for  many 
a  lief-long  day ' '  ;  nevertheless,  she 
too  must  yield  to  destiny.  * '  Honora- 
bly she  was  to  become  a  most  noble 
Ri tter '  s  wife. "  ''  This, ' '  adds  the  old 
Singer,  "was  that  same  falcon  she 
dreamed  of :  how  sorely  she  since  re- 
venged him  on  her  nearest  kindred  ! 
For  that  one  death  died  full  many  a 
mother's  son." 


XLhc  IRfbelunQen  XteD  6i 

It  may  be  observed,  that  the  Poet 
here,  and  at  all  times,  shows  a  marked 
partiality  for  Chriemhild ;  ever  striv- 
ing, unlike  his  fellow-singers,  to  mag- 
nify her  worth,  her  faithfulness,  and 
loveliness  ;  and  softening,  as  much  as 
may  be,  whatever  makes  against  her. 
No  less  a  favorite  with  him  is  Sieg- 
fried, the  prompt,  gay,  peaceably  fear- 
less hero  ;  to  whom,  in  the  Second 
Aventiure^  we  are  here  suddenly  in- 
troduced, at  Santen  (Xanten),  the 
Court  of  Netherland  ;  whither,  to  his 
glad  parents,  after  achievements  (to  us 
partially  known)  ' '  of  which  one  might 
sing  and  tell  forever,"  that  noble 
prince  has  returned.  Much  as  he  has 
done  and  conquered,  he  is  but  just 
arrived  at  man's  years  ;  it  is  on  occa- 
sion of  this  jo3^ful  event  that  a  high- 
tide  {JiochgezW)  is  now  held  there,  with 
infinite  joustings,  minstrels}^,  largesses, 


62  Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD 

and  other  chivalrous  doings,  all  which 
is  sung  with  utmost  heartiness.  The 
old  King  Siegemund  offers  to  resign  his 
crown  to  him  ;  but  Siegfried  has  other 
game  a-field  :  the  unparalleled  beauty 
of  Chriemhild  has  reached  his  ear  and 
his  fancy  ;  and  now  he  will  to  Worms 
and  woo  her,  at  least  '  *  see  how  it 
stands  with  her."  Fruitless  is  it  for 
Siegemund  and  the  mother  Siegelinde 
to  represent  the  perils  of  that  enter- 
prise, the  pride  of  those  Burgundian 
Gunthers  and  Gemots,  the  fierce  tem- 
per of  their  uncle  Hagen  ;  Siegfried  is 
as  obstinate  as  young  men  are  in  these 
cases,  and  can  hear  no  counsel.  Nay, 
he  will  not  accept  the  much  more  lib- 
eral proposition,  to  take  an  army  with 
him,  and  conquer  the  country,  if  it 
must  be  so  ;  he  will  ride  forth,  like 
himself,  with  twelve  champions  only, 
and  so  defy  the  future.     Whereupon, 


XLbc  IFllbelunQen  XieD  63 

the  old  people  finding  that  there  is  no 
other  course,  proceed  to  make  him 
clothes  *  ; — at  least,  the  good  queen 
with  ' '  her  fair  women  sitting  night 
and  day,"  and  sewing,  does  so,  the 
father  furnishing  noblest  battle  and 
riding  gear  ; — and  so  dismiss  him  with 
many  blessings  and  lamentations. 
' '  For  him  wept  sore  the  king  and  his 
wife,  but  he  comforted  both  their  bodies 
(lip)  ;  he  said  :  '  Ye  must  not  weep,  for 
my  body  ever  shall  ye  be  without  care. ' ' 

Sad  was  it  to  the  Recken,     Stood  weeping 

many  a  maid  ; 
I  ween  their  heart  had  them     The  tidings 

true  foresaid, 
That  of  their  friends  so  many  Death  thereby 

should  find ; 
Cause  had  they  of  lamenting.     Such  boding 

in  their  mind. 

*  This  is  a  never-failing  preparative  for  all  expedi- 
tions, and  always  specified  and  insisted  on  with  a 
simple,  loving,  almost  female  impressiveness. 


64  XLbc  IFlibelungen  XieD 

Nevertheless,  on  the  seventh  morning, 
that  adventurous  company  * '  ride  up 
the  sand,"  on  the  Rhine-beach,  to 
Worms,  in  high  temper,  in  dress  and 
trappings,  aspect  and  bearing  more 
than  kingly. 

Siegfried's  reception  at  King  Gun- 
ther's  court,  and  his  brave  sayings  and 
doings  there  for  some  time,  we  must 
omit.  One  fine  trait  of  his  chivalrous 
delicacy  it  is  that,  for  a  whole  year,  he 
never  hints  at  his  errand ;  never  once 
sees  or  speaks  of  Chriemhild,  whom, 
nevertheless,  he  is  longing  day  and 
night  to  meet.  She,  on  her  side,  has 
often  through  her  lattices  noticed  the 
gallant  stranger,  victorious  in  all  tilt- 
ings  and  knightly  exercises  ;  whereby 
it  would  seem,  in  spite  of  her  rigorous 
predeterminations,  some  kindness  for 
him  is  already  gliding  in.  Meanwhile, 
mighty  wars   and  threats  of  invasion 


XLbc  IRibelungen  XieD  65 

arise,  and  Siegfried  does  the  state  good 
service.  Returning  victorious,  both  as 
general  and  soldier,  from  Hessen 
(Hessia),  where,  by  help  of  his  own 
courage  and  the  sword  Balmung,  he 
has  captured  a  Danish  king,  and  ut- 
terly discomforted  a  Saxon  one ;  he 
can  now  show  himself  before  Chriem- 
hild  without  other  blushes  than  those 
of  timid  love.  Nay,  the  maiden  has 
herself  inquired  pointedly  of  the  mes- 
sengers, touching  his  exploits;  and 
'  *  her  fair  face  grew  rose-red  when  she 
heard  them."  A  gay  High-tide,  by 
way  of  triumph,  is  appointed  ;  several 
kings,  and  two-and-thirty  princes,  and 
knights  enough  with  "  gold-red  sad- 
dles," come  to  joust;  and  better  than 
whole  infinities  of  kings  and  princes 
with  their  saddles,  the  fair  Chriemhild 
herself,  under  guidance  of  her  mother, 
chiefly  too  in  honor  of  the  victor,  is  to 
5 


66  Zhc  IRlbelutiQcn  XieD 

grace  that  sport.  '*  Ute  the  full  rich  " 
fails  not  to  set  her  needle-women  to 
work,  and  "  clothes  of  price  are  taken 
from  their  presses,"  for  the  love  of  her 
child,  "wherewith  to  deck  many 
women  and  maids. ' '  And  now,  '  *  on 
the  Whitsun-moming, "  all  is  ready, 
and  glorious  as  heart  could  desire  it ; 
brave  Ritters,  ' '  five  thousand  or 
more,"  all  glancing  in  the  lists;  but 
grander  still,  Chriemhild  herself 
is  advancing  beside  her  mother, 
with  a  hundred  body-guards,  all 
sword  in  hand,  and  many  a  noble 
maid  "wearing  rich  raiment,"  In 
her  train  ! 

"Now  issued  forth  the  lovely  one  {mtn- 
nechliche),  as  the  red  moruing  doth  from 
troubled  clouds  ;  much  care  fled  away  from 
him  who  bore  her  in  his  heart,  and  long  had 
done  ;  he  saw  the  lovely  one  stand  in  her 
beauty. 


Zbc  tMbclumcn  Xlc&  67 

"There  glanced  from  her  garments  full 
many  precious  stones,  her  rose-red  color 
shone  full  lovely  :  try  what  he  might,  each 
man  must  confess  that  in  this  world  he  had 
not  seen  aught  so  fair. 

"  Like  as  the  light  moon  stands  before 
the  stars,  and  its  sheen  so  clear  goes  over  the 
clouds,  even  so  stood  she  now  before  many 
fair  women  ;  whereat  cheered  was  the  mind 
of  the  hero. 

' '  The  rich  chamberlains  you  saw  go  before 
her,  the  high-spirited  Recken  would  not  for- 
bear, but  pressed  on  where  they  saw  the 
lovely  maiden.  Siegfried  the  lord  was  both 
glad  and  sad. 

'*  He  thought  in  his  mind,  How  could  this 
be  that  I  should  woo  thee?  That  was  a 
foolish  dream ;  yet  must  I  forever  be  a 
stranger,  I  were  rather  {sanfter,  softer) 
dead.  He  became,  from  these  thoughts,  in 
quick  changes,  pale  and  red. 

"  Thus  stood  so  lovely  the  child  of  Siege- 
linde,  as  if  he  were  limned  on  parchment  by 
a  master's  art  ;  for  all  granted  that  hero  so 
beautiful  they  had  never  seen." 


68  ^be  IRlbelungen  %iet> 


In  this  passage,  which  we  have  ren- 
dered from  the  Fifth  Azmitiure  into 
the  closest  prose,  it  is  to  be  remarked, 
among  other  singularities,  that  there 
are  two  similes  :  in  which  figure  of 
speech  our  old  Singer  deals  very  spar- 
ingly. The  first,  that  comparison  of 
Chriemhild  to  the  moon  among  stars 
with  its  sheen  going  over  the  clouds, 
has  now  for  many  centuries  had  little 
novelty  or  merit  :  but  the  second,  that 
of  Siegfried  to  a  Figure  in  some  illu- 
minated Manuscript,  is  graceful  in 
itself ;  and  unspeakably  so  to  antiqua- 
ries, seldom  honored,  in  their  Black- 
letter  stubbing  and  grubbing,  with 
such  a  poetic  wind-fall ! 

A  prince  and  a  princess  of  this 
quality  are  clearly  made  for  one  an- 
other. Nay,  on  the  motion  of  young 
Herr  Gemot,  fair  Chriemhild  is  bid 
vSpecially  to  salute  Siegfried,  she  who 


C^be  IPllbelungen  %ict>  69 

had  never  saluted  man  ;  which  unpar- 
alleled grace  the  lovely  one,  in  all 
courtliness,  openly  does  him.  ''Be 
welcome,"  said  she,  "  Herr  Siegfried, 
a  noble  Ritter  good";  from  which 
salute,  for  this  seems  to  have  been  all, 
' '  much  raised  was  his  mind. ' '  He 
bowed  with  graceful  reverence,  as  his 
manner  was  with  women ;  she  took 
him  by  the  hand,  and  with  fond  stolen 
glances  they  looked  at  each  other. 
Whether  in  that  ceremonial  joining  of 
hands  there  might  not  be  some  soft, 
slight  pressure,  of  far  deeper  import,  is 
what  our  Singer  will  not  take  upon 
him  to  say  ;  however,  he  thinks  the 
affirmative  more  probable.  Hence- 
forth, in  that  bright  May  weather,  the 
two  were  seen  constantly  together, — 
nothing  but  felicity  around  and  before 
them.  In  these  days,  truly,  it  must 
have  been  that  the  famous  Prize-fight, 


70  Zbc  IRibclunGcn  X(e& 

with  Dietricli  of  Bern  and  his  Eleven 
Lombardy  champions,  took  place,  little 
to  the  profit  of  the  two  I^overs ;  were 
it  not  rather  that  the  whole  of  that 
Rose-garden  transaction,  as  given  in 
the  "  Heldenbuch,"  might  be  falsified 
and  even  imaginary  ;  for  no  mention  or 
hint  of  it  occurs  here.  War  or  battle 
is  not  heard  of  ;  Siegfried  the  peerless 
walks  wooingly  by  the  side  of  Chriem- 
hild  the  peerless  ;  matters,  it  is  evident, 
are  in  the  best  possible  course. 

But  now  comes  a  new  side-wind, 
which,  however,  in  the  long-run  also 
forwards  the  voyage.  Tidings,  namely, 
reached  over  the  Rhine,  not  so  sur- 
prising we  might  hope,  ' '  that  there  was 
many  a  fair  maiden"  ;  whereupon 
Gunther  the  King  '  *  thought  with  him- 
self to  win  one  of  them."  It  was  an 
honest  purpose  in  King  Gunther,  only 
his    choice   was    not    the  discreetest. 


Zhc  Iftlbelunoen  XicD  71 

For  no  fair  maiden  will  content  him 
but  Queen  Brunhild,  a  lady  who  rules 
in  Iseyiland^  far  over  sea,  famed  indeed 
for  her  beauty,  yet  no  less  so  for  her 
caprices.  Fables  we  have  met  with  of 
this  Brunhild  being  properly  a  Valkyr^ 
or  Scandinavian  Houri,  such  as  were 
wont  to  lead  old  northern  warriors 
from  their  last  battle-field  into  Val- 
halla ;  and  that  her  castle  of  Isenstein 
stood  amidst  a  lake  of  fire.  But  this,  as 
we  said,  is  fable  and  groundless  cal- 
umny, of  w^hich  there  is  not  so  much 
as  notice  taken  here.  Brunhild,  it  is 
plain  enough,  was  a  flesh-and-blood 
maiden,  glorious  in  look  and  faculty, 
only  wath  some  preternatural  talents 
given  her,  and  the  strangest  w^ayward 
habits.  It  appears,  for  example,  that 
any  suitor  proposing  for  her  has  this 
brief  condition  to  proceed  upon  :  he 
must  try  the  adorable  in  the  three  sev- 


72  Zbc  IRtbclunaen  XieO 

eral  games  of  hurling  the  Spear  (at  one 
another),  lyeaping,  and  throwing  the 
Stone.  If  victorious,  he  gains  her  hand  ; 
if  vanquished,  he  loses  his  own  head  ; 
which  latter  issue,  such  is  the  fair 
Amazon's  strength,  frequent  fatal  ex- 
periment has  shown  to  be  the  only- 
probable  one. 

Siegfried,  who  knows  something  of 
Brunhild  and  her  wa3^s,  votes  clearly 
against  the  whole  enterprise  ;  however, 
Gunther  has  once  for  all  got  the  whim 
in  him,  and  must  see  it  out.  The 
prudent  Hagen  von  Troneg,  uncle  to 
love-sick  Gunther,  and  ever  true  to 
him,  then  advises  that  Siegfried  be  re- 
quested to  take  part  in  the  adventure  ; 
to  which  request  Siegfried  readily 
accedes  on  one  condition  :  that,  should 
they  prove  fortunate,  he  himself  is  to 
have  Chrierahild  to  wife  when  they 
return.     This  readily  settled,  he  now 


Zbc  IWtbelun^en  %ictf  73 

takes  charge  of  the  business  and 
throws  a  httle  light  on  it  for  the  others. 
They  must  lead  no  army  thither  ;  only 
two,  Hagen  and  Dankwart,  besides 
the  king  and  himself,  shall  go.  The 
grand  subject  of  waeie'^  (clothes)  is 
next  hinted  at,  and  in  general  terms 
elucidated  ;  whereupon  a  solemn  con- 
sultation Tvdth  Chriemhild  ensues  ;  and 
a  great  cutting-out,  on  her  part,  of 
white  silk  from  Araby,  of  green  silk 
from  Zazemang,  of  strange  fish-skins 
covered  with  morocco  silk  ;  a  great 
sewing  thereof  for  seven  weeks,  on  the 
part  of  her  maids  ;  lastly,  a  fitting-on 
of  the  three  suits  by  each  hero,  for 
each  had  three  ;  and  heartiest  thanks 
in  return,  seeing  all  fitted  perfectly, 
and  was  of  grace  and  price  unuttera- 
ble.    What  is  still  more  to  the  point, 

*  Hence  our  English  weeds,  and  Scotch  wad 
(pledge) ;  and,  say  the  etymologists,  wadding^  and 
even  wedding. 


74  Zbc  IRibelunacn  Xie& 

Siegfried  takes  his  Cloak  of  Darkness 
with  him,  fancying  he  may  need  it 
there.  The  good  old  Singer,  who  has 
hitherto  alluded  only  in  the  faintest 
way  to  Siegfried's  prior  adventures 
and  miraculous  possessions,  introduces 
this  of  the  Tarnkappe  with  great  frank- 
ness and  simplicity.  ' '  Of  wild  dwarfs 
{getwergefi),''  says  he,  *'  I  have  heard 
tell,  they  are  in  hollow  mountains,  and 
for  defence  wear  somewhat  called 
Tarnkappe,  of  wondrous  sort ' '  ;  the 
qualities  of  which  garment,  that  it 
renders  invisible,  and  gives  twelve 
men's  strength,  are  already  known  to 
us. 

The  voyage  to  Isenstein,  Siegfried 
steering  the  ship  thither,  is  happily 
accomplished  in  twenty  days.  Gun- 
ther  admires  to  a  high  degree  the  fine 
masonry  of  the  place  ;  as  indeed  he 
well  might,  there  being  some  eighty- 


^be  IRibelungen  XieD  75 

six  towers,  three  immense  palaces  and 
one  immense  hall,  the  whole  built  of 
' '  marble  green  as  grass  ' '  ;  further  he 
sees  many  fair  women  looking  from 
the  windows  down  on  the  bark,  and 
thinks  the  loveliest  is  she  in  the  snow- 
white  dress  ;  which,  Siegfried  informs 
him,  is  a  worthy  choice  ;  the  snow- 
white  maiden  being  no  other  than 
Brunhild.  It  is  also  to  be  kept  in 
mind  that  Siegfried,  for  reasons  best 
known  to  himself,  had  previously  stipu- 
lated that,  though  a  free  king,  they 
should  all  treat  him  as  vassal  of  Gun- 
ther,  for  whom  accordingly  he  holds 
the  stirrup,  as  they  mount  on  the 
beach  ;  thereby  giving  rise  to  a  mis- 
conception, which  in  the  end  led  to 
saddest  consequences. 

Queen  Brunhild,  who  had  called 
back  her  maidens  from  the  windows, 
being  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and   re- 


76  ^be  mibclun^en  XieD 

tired  into  the  interior  of  her  green- 
marble  Isenstein,  to  dress  still  better, 
now  inquires  of  some  attendant,  Who 
these  strangers  of  such  lordly  aspect 
are,  and  what  brings  them  ?  The  at- 
tendant professes  himself  at  a  loss  to 
say  ;  one  of  them  looks  like  Sieg- 
fried, the  other  is  evidently  by  his  port 
a  noble  king.  His  notice  of  Von 
Troneg  Hagen  is  peculiarly  vivid  : 

The  third  of  those  companions  He  is  of  as- 
pect stem. 

And  yet  with  lovely  body.  Rich  queen,  as 
ye  might  discern  ; 

From  those  his  rapid  glances,  For  the  eyes 
nought  rest  in  him, 

Meseems  this  foreign  Recke  Is  of  temper 
fierce  and  grim. 

This  is  one  of  those  little  graphic 
touches,  scattered  all  over  our  Poem, 
which  do  more  for  picturing  out  an 
object,  especially  a  man,  than  whole 


^be  naibelungen  XleD  77 

pages  of  enumeration  and  mensura- 
tion. Never  after  do  we  hear  of  this 
stout,  indomitable  Hagen,  in  all  the 
wild  deeds  and  sufferings  he  passes 
through,  but  those  swindeii  blickeyi 
of  his  come  before  us,  with  the  rest- 
less, deep,  dauntless  spirit  that  looks 
through  them. 

Brunhild's  reception  of  Siegfried  is 
not  without  tartness  ;  which,  however, 
he,  with  polished  courtesy  and  the 
nimblest  address,  ever  at  his  com- 
mand, softens  down,  or  hurries  over. 
He  is  here,  without  will  of  his  own, 
and  so  forth,  only  as  attendant  on  his 
master,  the  renowned  King  Gunther, 
who  comes  to  sue  for  her  hand,  as  the 
summit  and  keystone  of  all  earthly 
blessings.  Brunhild,  w^ho  had  deter- 
mined on  fighting  Siegfried  himself, 
if  so  he  w^illed  it,  makes  small  account 
of  this  King  Gunther  or  his  prow^ess  ; 


78  Zbc  naibclungcn  XicD 

and  instantly  clears  the  ground,  and 
equips  her  for  battle.  The  royal  wooer 
must  have  looked  a  little  blank  when 
he  saw  a  shield  brought  in  for  his  fair 
one's  handling,  "three  spans  thick 
with  gold  and  iron, ' '  which  four  cham- 
berlains could  hardly  bear,  and  a  spear 
or  javelin  she  meant  to  shoot  or  hurl, 
which  w^as  a  burden  for  three.  Hagen, 
in  angry  apprehension  for  his  king  and 
nephew,  exclaims  that  they  shall  all 
lose  their  life  (/ip),  and  that  she  is  the 
tiuvels  wip,  or  Devil's  wife.  Neverthe- 
less Siegfried  is  already  there  in  his 
Cloak  of  Darkness,  twelve  men  strong, 
and  privily  whispers  in  the  ear  of  roy- 
alty to  be  of  comfort ;  takes  the  shield 
to  himself,  Gunther  only  affecting  to 
hold  it,  and  so  fronts  the  edge  of  bat- 
tle. Brunhild  performs  prodigies  of 
spear-hurling,  of  leaping,  and  stone- 
pitching  ;  but  Gunther,  or  rather  Sieg- 


Zbc  IPiibclnnQcn  %ict>  79 

fried, — ''  who  does  tlie  work,  lie  only- 
acting  the  gestures,"  nay,  who  even 
snatches  him  up  into  the  air,  and  leaps 
carrying  him, — gains  a  decided  vic- 
tory, and  the  lovely  Amazon  must 
own  with  surprise  and  shame  that  she 
is  fairly  won.  Siegfried  presently  ap- 
pears without  Tarnkappe,  and  asks 
with  a  grave  face.  When  the  games, 
then,  are  to  begin  ? 

So  far  well;  yet  somewhat  still  re- 
mains to  be  done.  Brunhild  will  not 
sail  for  Worms,  to  be  wedded,  till  she 
have  assembled  a  fit  train  of  warriors  ; 
wherein  the  Burgundians,  being  here 
without  retinue,  see  symptoms  or  pos- 
sibilities of  mischief.  The  deft  Sieg- 
fried, ablest  of  men,  again  knows  a 
resource.  In  his  Tarnkappe  he  steps 
on  board  the  bark,  which,  seen  from 
the  shore,  appears  to  drift  off  of  its  own 
accord ;  and  therein,  stoutly   steering 


8o  Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD 

towards  Nibelung en-land^  lie  reaches 
that  mysterious  country  and  the  moun- 
tain where  his  Hoard  lies,  before  the 
second  morning  ;  finds  Dwarf  Alberich 
and  all  his  giant  sentinels  at  their  post, 
and  faithful  almost  to  the  death  ;  these 
soon  rouse  him  thirty  thousand  Nibe- 
lungen  Recken,  from  whom  he  has 
only  to  choose  one  thousand  of  the 
best  ;  equip  them  splendidly  enough  ; 
and  therewith  return  to  Gunther,  sim- 
ply as  if  they  were  that  sovereign's 
own  bodyguard,  that  had  been  delayed 
a  little  by  stress  of  weather. 

The  final  arrival  at  Worms ;  the 
bridal  feasts,  for  there  are  two,  Sieg- 
fried also  receiving  his  reward;  and 
the  jo3^ance  and  splendor  of  man  and 
maid,  at  this  lordliest  of  high-tides ; 
and  the  joustings,  greater  than  those 
at  Aspramont  or  Montauban, — every 
reader  can  fancy  for  himself.    Remark- 


XTbe  BibelunGcn  XfcD  8i 

able  only  is  the  evil  eye  with  which 
Queen  Brunhild  still  continues  to  re- 
gard the  noble  Siegfried.  She  cannot 
understand  how  Gunther,  the  I^and- 
lord  of  the  Rhine,*  should  have  be- 
stowed his  sister  on  a  vassal.  The 
assurance  that  Siegfried  also  is  a  prince 
and  heir- apparent,  the  prince  namely 
of  Netherland,  and  little  inferior  to 
Burgundian  majest}^  itself,  yields  no 
complete  satisfaction ;  and  Brunhild 
hints  plainly  that,  unless  the  truth  be 
told  her,  unpleasant  consequences  may 
follow.  Thus  is  there  ever  a  ravelled 
thread  in  the  web  of  life  !  But  for  this 
little  cloud  of  spleen,  these  bridal 
feasts  had  been  all  bright  and  balmy 
as  the  month  of  June.     Unluckily,  too, 


*  Der  Wirt  von  Rine :  singular  enough,  the  word 
Wit-th^  often  applied  to  royalty  in  that  old  dialect, 
is  now  also  the  title  of  innkeepers.     To  such  base 
uses  may  we  come. 
6 


82  XLbc  IFlibelunaen  %ict> 

the  cloud  is  an  electric  one  ;  spreads 
itself  in  time  into  a  general  earth- 
quake ;  nay,  that  very  night,  becomes 
a  thunder-storm,  or  tornado,  unparal- 
leled we  may  hope  in  the  annals  of 
connubial  happiness. 

The  Singer  of  the  "  Nibelungen," 
unlike  the  author  of  ' '  Roderick  Ran- 
dom," cares  little  for  intermeddling 
with  "the  chaste  mysteries  of  H}^- 
men."  Could  we,  in  the  corrupt 
ambiguous  modern  tongue,  hope  to 
exhibit  any  shadow  of  the  old  simple, 
true-hearted,  merely  historical  spirit, 
with  which,  in  perfect  purity  of  soul, 
he  describes  things  unattempted  yet 
in  prose  or  rhyme, — we  could  a  tale 
unfold  !  Suffice  it  to  say.  King  Gun- 
ther.  Landlord  of  the  Rhine,  falling 
sheer  down  from  the  third  heaven  of 
hope,  finds  his  spouse  the  most  athletic 
and  intractable  of  women  ;  and  him- 


^be  Bibelungen  XleD  83 

self,  at  the  close  of  the  adventure,  no- 
wise encircled  in  her  arms,  but  tied 
hard  and  fast,  hand  and  foot,  in  her 
girdle,  and  hung  thereby,  at  consider- 
able elevation,  on  a  nail  in  the  wall. 
lyCt  any  reader  of  sensibility  figure  the 
emotions  of  the  royal  breast,  there  as 
he  vibrates  suspended  on  his  peg,  and 
his  inexorable  bride  sleeping  sound  in 
her  bed  below  !  Towards  morning  he 
capitulates  ;  engaging  to  observe  the 
prescribed  line  of  conduct  with  utmost 
strictness,  so  he  may  but  avoid  becom- 
ing a  laughing-stock  to  all  men. 

No  wonder  the  dread  king  looked 
rather  grave  next  morning,  and  re- 
ceived the  congratulations  of  mankind 
in  a  cold  manner.  He  confesses  to 
Siegfried,  who  partly  suspects  how  it 
may  be,  that  he  has  brought  the  ' '  evil 
devil ' '  home  to  his  house  in  the  shape 
of    wife,     whereby     he    is    wretched 


G:be  IRibelungen  %iet> 


enough.  However,  there  are  remedies 
for  all  things  but  death.  The  ever- 
serviceable  Siegfried  undertakes  even 
here  to  make  the  crooked  straight. 
What  may  not  an  honest  friend  with 
Tarnkappe  and  twelve  men's  strength 
perform  ?  Proud  Brunhild,  next  night, 
after  a  fierce  contest,  owns  herself 
again  vanquished  ;  Gunther  is  there 
to  reap  the  fruits  of  another's  victory  ; 
the  noble  Siegfried  withdraws,  taking 
nothing  with  him  but  the  luxury  of 
doing  good,  and  the  proud  queen's 
Ring  and  Girdle  gained  from  her  in 
that  struggle ;  which  small  trophies 
he,  with  the  last  infirmity  of  a  noble 
mind,  presents  to  his  own  fond  wife, 
little  dreaming  that  they  would  one 
day  cost  him  and  her,  and  all  of  them, 
so  dear.  Such  readers  as  take  au}^  in- 
terest in  poor  Gunther  will  be  gratified 
to  learn,  that  from  this  hour  Brunhild's 


Zbc  IRibelungcn  XleD  85 

preternatural  faculties  quite  left  her, 
being  all  dependent  on  her  maidhood ; 
so  that  any  more  spear-hurling,  or 
other  the  like  extraordinary  work,  is 
not  to  be  apprehended  from  her. 

If  we  add,  that  Siegfried  formally 
made  over  to  his  dear  Chriemhild  the 
Nibelungen  Hoard,  by  way  of  Morgeri- 
gabe  (or,  as  we  may  say.  Jointure)  ; 
and  the  high-tide,  though  not  the 
honeymoon,  being  past,  returned  to 
Netherland  with  his  spouse,  to  be  wel- 
comed there  with  infinite  rejoicings, — 
we  have  gone  through  as  it  were  the 
First  Act  of  this  Tragedy  ;  and  may 
here  pause  to  look  round  us  for  a 
moment.  The  main  characters  are 
now  introduced  on  the  scene,  the  rela- 
tions that  bind  them  together  are  dimly 
sketched  out  :  there  is  the  prompt, 
cheerfully  heroic,  invulnerable,  and 
invincible  Siegfried,  now  happiest  of 


86  xrbe  IRibelunQcn  Xle& 

men  ;  tlie  high  Chriemhild,  fitly- 
mated,  and  if  a  moon,  revolving  glo- 
rious round  her  sun,  or  Friedel  (joy 
and  darling)  ;  not  without  pride  and 
female  aspirings,  yet  not  prouder  than 
one  so  gifted  and  placed  is  pardonable 
for  being.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 
King  Gunther,  or  rather  let  us  say 
king's-mantle  Gunther,  for  never  ex- 
cept in  that  one  enterprise  of  courting 
Brunhild,  in  which  too,  without  help, 
he  would  have  cut  so  poor  a  figure, 
does  the  worthy  sovereign  show  will 
of  his  own,  or  character  other  than  that 
of  good  potter's  clay  ;  further,  the 
suspicious,  forecasting,  yet  stout  and 
reckless  Hagen,  him  with  the  rapid 
glanceSy  and  these  turned  not  too 
kindly  on  Siegfried,  whose  prowess  he 
has  used  yet  dreads,  whose  Nibelungen 
Hoard  he  perhaps  already  covets  ; 
lastly  the  rigorous  and  vigorous  Brun- 


XLbc  'Uibclnmcn  XleD  87 

Mid,  of  whom  also  more  is  to  be  feared 
than  hoped.  Considering  the  fierce 
nature  of  these  now  mingled  ingredi- 
ents ;  and  how,  except  perhaps  in  the 
case  of  Gunther,  there  is  no  menstruum 
of  placid  stupidity  to  soften  them  ; 
except  in  Siegfried,  no  element  of 
heroic  truth  to  master  them  and  bind 
them  together, — unquiet  fermentation 
may  readily  be  apprehended. 

Meanwhile,  for  a  season  all  is  peace 
and  sunshine.  Siegfried  reigns  in 
Netherland,  of  which  his  father  has 
surrendered  him  the  crown  ;  Chriem- 
hild  brings  him  a  son,  whom  in  honor 
of  the  uncle  he  christens  Gunther, 
which  courtesy  the  uncle  and  Brunhild 
repay  in  kind.  The  Nibelungen  Hoard 
is  still  open  and  inexhaustible  ;  Dwarf 
Alberich  and  all  the  Recken  there  still 
loyal ;  outward  relations  friendly,  in- 
ternal supremely  prosperous  :  these  are 


88  Zbc  IRibelungen  XieD 

halcyon  days.  But,  alas,  they  cannot 
last.  Queen  Brunhild,  retaining  with 
true  female  tenacity  her  first  notion, 
right  or  wrong,  reflects  one  day  that 
Siegfried,  who  is  and  shall  be  nothing 
but  her  husband's  vassal,  has  for  a 
long  while  paid  him  no  service  ;  and, 
determined  on  a  remedy,  manages  that 
Siegfried  and  his  queen  shall  be  in- 
vited to  a  high-tide  at  Worms,  where 
opportunity  may  chance  for  enforcing 
that  claim.  Thither  accordingly,  after 
ten  years'  absence,  we  find  these  illus- 
trious guests  returning  ;  Siegfried 
escorted  by  a  thousand  Nibelungen 
Ritters,  and,  further,  by  his  father 
Siegemund,  who  leads  a  train  of  Neth- 
erlanders.  Here  for  eleven  days, 
amid  infinite  joustings,  there  is  a  true 
heaven-on-earth ;  but  the  apple  of 
discord  is  already  lying  in  the  knightly 
ring,  and   two  Women,  the  proudest 


tTbe  Bibelungen  XlcD  89 

and  keenest-tempered  of  the  world, 
simultaneously  stoop  to  lift  it.  Aven- 
there  Fourteenth  is  entitled  ' '  How  the 
two  queens  rated  one  another. ' '  Never 
was  courtlier  Billingsgate  uttered,  or 
which  came  more  directly  home  to  the 
business  and  bosoms  of  women.  The 
subject  is  that  old  story  of  Precedence, 
which  indeed,  from  the  time  of  Cain 
and  Abel  downwards,  has  wrought 
such  effusion  of  blood  and  bile  both 
among  men  and  women  ;  lying  at  the 
bottom  of  all  armaments  and  bat- 
tle-fields, whether  Blenheims  and 
Waterloos,  or  only  plate-displays, 
and  tongue-and-eye  skirmishes,  in  the 
circle  of  domestic  Tea  :  nay,  the  very 
animals  have  it ;  and  horses,  were  they 
but  the  miserablest  Shelties  and 
Welsh  ponies,  will  not  graze  together 
till  it  has  been  ascertained,  bj^  clear 
fight,  who  is  master  of  whom,  and  a 


go  tibe  Iftibelunaen  XlcD 

proper  drawing-room  etiquette  estab- 
lished. 

Brunhild  and  Chriemhild  take  to 
arguing  about  the  merits  of  their  hus- 
bands :  the  latter,  fondly  expatiating 
on  the  pre-eminence  of  her  Friedel, 
how  he  walks  ' '  like  the  moon  among 
stars ' '  before  all  other  men,  is  reminded 
by  her  sister  that  one  man  at  least 
must  be  excepted,  the  mighty  King 
Gunther  of  Worms,  to  whom,  by  his 
own  confession  long  ago  at  Isenstein, 
he  is  vassal  and  servant.  Chriemhild 
will  sooner  admit  that  clay  is  above 
sunbeams,  than  any  such  proposition  ; 
which  therefore  she,  in  all  politeness 
requests  of  her  sister  never  more  to 
touch  upon  while  she  lives.  The  re- 
sult may  be  foreseen  :  rejoinder  follows 
reply,  statement  grows  assertion  ;  flint- 
sparks  have  fallen  on  the  dry  flax, 
which  from  smoke  bursts  into  confla- 


^be  IRibelungcn  %ict>  91 

gration.  The  two  queens  part  in  hot- 
test, though  still  clear-flaming  anger. 
Not,  however,  to  let  their  anger  bum 
out,  but  only  to  feed  it  with  more  solid 
fuel.  Chriemhild  dresses  her  forty 
maids  in  finer  than  royal  apparel  ; 
orders  out  all  her  husband's  Recken  ; 
and  so  attended,  walks  foremost  to  the 
Minster,  where  mass  is  to  be  said  ; 
thus  practically  asserting  that  she  is 
not  only  a  true  queen,  but  the  worthier 
of  the  two.  Brunhild,  quite  outdone 
in  splendor,  and  enraged  beyond  all 
patience,  overtakes  her  at  the  door  of 
the  Minster,  with  peremptor}^  order  to 
stop  :  "  Before  king's  wife  shall  vas- 
sal's never  go." 

Then  said  the  fair  Chriemhilde,  Right  an- 
gry was  her  mood  : 

"  Couldest  thou  but  hold  thy  peace.  It  were 
surely  for  thy  good  ; 


92  XLbc  fUMbclnngcn  XieD 


Th3'self  hast  all  polluted     With  shame  thy 

fair  bodye  ; 
How  can  a  Concubine     By  right  a  King's 

wife  be  ?  " 

**Whom   hast    thou    Concubined  ?  "      The 

King's  wife  quickly  spake  ; 
**That  do  I  thee,"  said  Chriemhild  ;  *' For 

thy  pride  and  vaunting' s  sake  ; 
Who  first  had  thy  fair  body     Was  Siegfried 

my  beloved  Man  ; 
My  Brother  it  was  not    That  thy  maidhood 

from  thee  wan." 

In  proof  of  which  outrageous  saying, 
she  produces  that  Ring  and  Girdle  ; 
the  innocent  conquest  of  which,  as  we 
well  know,  had  a  far  other  origin. 
Brunhild  burst  into  tears  ;  ' '  sadder 
day  she  never  saw. ' '  Nay,  perhaps  a 
new  light  now  rose  on  her  over  much 
that  had  been  dark  in  her  late  history  ; 
' '  she  rued  full  sore  that  ever  she  was 
bom.*' 


Zbc  IRlbelungen  XlcD  93 

Here,  then,  is  the  black  injury  which 
only  blood  will  wash  away.  The  evil 
fiend  has  begun  his  work  ;  and  the 
issue  of  it  lies  beyond  man's  control. 
Siegfried  may  protest  his  innocence  of 
that  calumny,  and  chastise  his  indis- 
creet spouse  for  uttering  it  even  in  the 
heat  of  anger  :  the  female  heart  is 
wounded  beyond  healing  ;  the  old 
springs  of  bitterness  against  this  hero 
unite  into  a  fell  flood  of  hate  ;  while  he 
sees  the  sunlight,  she  cannot  know  a 
joyful  hour.  Vengeance  is  soon  offered 
her  :  Hagen,  who  lives  only  for  his 
prince,  undertakes  this  bad  service  ;  by 
treacherous  professions  of  attachment, 
and  anxiety  to  guard  Siegfried's  life,  he 
gains  from  Chriemhild  the  secret  of 
his  vulnerability  ;  Siegfried  is  carried 
out  to  hunt ;  and  in  the  hour  of  frank- 
est gayety  is  stabbed  through  the  fatal 
spot ;  and,  felling  the  murderer  to  the 


94  ^be  Wbelungen  XtcO 

ground,  dies  upbraiding  his  false  kin- 
dred, 5^et,  with  a  touching  simplicit}^ 
recommending  his  child  and  wife  to 
their  protection.  ''  '  I^et  her  feel  that 
she  is  your  sister  ;  was  there  ever  vir- 
tue in  princes,  be  true  to  her  ;  for 
me  my  Father  and  my  men  shall  long 
wait.'  The  flowers  all  around  were 
wetted  with  blood,  then  he  struggled 
with  death  ;  not  long  did  he  this,  the 
weapon  cut  him  too  keen  ;  so  he  could 
speak  nought  more,  the  Recke  bold 
and  noble. ' ' 

At  this  point,  we  might  say,  ends 
the  Third  Act  of  our  Tragedy  ;  the 
whole  story  henceforth  takes  a  darker 
character  ;  it  is  as  if  a  tone  of  sorrow 
and  fateful  boding  became  more  and 
more  audible  in  its  free,  light  music. 
Evil  has  produced  new  evil  in  fatal 
augmentation,  injury  is  abolished, 
but  in  its  stead  there  is  guilt  and  de- 


Zhc  IRibeluncjen  %ict>  95 

spair.  Chriemhild,  an  hour  ago  so 
rich,  is  now  robbed  of  all  ;  her  grief 
is  boundless  as  her  love  has  been.  No 
glad  thought  can  ever  more  dwell  in 
her  ;  darkness,  utter  night  has  come 
over  her,  as  she  looked  into  the  red 
of  morning.  The  spoiler  too  walks 
abroad  unpunished  ;  the  bleeding 
corpse  witnesses  against  Hagen,  nay, 
he  himself  cares  not  to  hide  the  deed. 
But  who  is  there  to  avenge  the  friend- 
less ?  Siegfried's  Father  has  returned 
in  haste  to  his  own  land  ;  Chriemhild 
is  now  alone  on  the  earth,  her  hus- 
band's grave  is  all  that  remains  to 
her  ;  there  only  can  she  sit,  as  if  wait- 
ing at  the  threshold  of  her  own  dark 
home  ;  and  in  prayers  and  tears  pour 
out  the  sorrow  and  love  that  have  no 
end.  Still  further  injuries  are  heaped 
on  her  :  by  advice  of  the  crafty  Hagen, 
Gunther,    who   had   not  planned  the 


96  ^be  mibelun^en  %ict> 

murder,  yet  permitted  and  witnessed 
it,  now  comes  with  whining  professions 
of  repentance  and  good-will ;  per- 
suades her  to  send  for  the  Nibelungen 
Hoard  to  Worms  ;  where  no  sooner  is 
it  arrived,  than  Hagen  and  the  rest 
forcibl}^  take  it  from  her  ;  and  her  last 
trust  in  affection  or  truth  from  mortal 
is  rudely  cut  away.  Bent  to  the  earth, 
she  weeps  only  for  her  lost  Siegfried, 
knows  no  comfort,  but  will  weep  for- 
ever. 

One  lurid  gleam  of  hope,  after  long 
years  of  darkness,  breaks  in  on  her,  in 
the  prospect  of  revenge.  King  Etzel 
sends  from  his  far  country  to  solicit 
her  hand  :  the  embassy  she  hears  at 
first,  as  a  woman  of  ice  might  do  ; 
the  good  Rudiger,  Ktzel's  spokesman, 
pleads  in  vain  that  his  king  is  the  rich- 
est of  all  earthly  kiii^:";?  ;  that  he  is  so 
lonely  ' '  since  Frai  i  \  lelke  died  ' '  ;  that 


Zbc  ffiibclungen  XfeD  97 

though  a  heathen,  he  has  Christians 
about  him,  and  may  one  day  be  con- 
verted ;  till  at  length,  when  he  hints 
distantly  at  the  power  of  Ktzel  to 
avenge  her  injuries,  she  on  a  sudden 
becomes  all  attention.  Hagen  foresee- 
ing such  possibilities,  protests  against 
the  match  ;  but  is  overruled  :  Chriem- 
hild  departs  with  Rudiger  for  the  land 
of  the  Huns  ;  taking  cold  leave  of  her 
relations  ;  only  two  of  whom,  her 
brothers  Gemot  and  Geiselher,  inno- 
cent of  that  murder,  does  she  admit 
near  her  as  convoy  to  the  Donau. 

The  Nibelungen  Hoard  has  hitherto 
been  fatal  to  all  its  possessors ;  to  the 
two  sons  of  Nibelung  ;  to  Siegfried  its 
conqueror  :  neither  does  the  Burgun- 
dian  Royal  House  fare  better  with  it. 
Already,  discords  threatening  to  arise, 
Hagen  sees  prudent  to  sink  it  in  the 
Rhine  ;  first  takiri^-  oath  of  Gunther 


98  ^be  IWibclungen  XleD 

and  his  brothers,  that  none  of  them 
shall  reveal  the  hiding-place  while 
any  of  the  rest  is  alive.  But  the  curse 
that  clave  to  it  could  not  be  sunk  there. 
The  Nibelungen-land  is  now  theirs  : 
they  themselves  are  henceforth  called 
Nibelungen ;  and  this  history  of  their 
fate  is  the  Nibelungen  Song,  or  "  Nibe- 
lungen Noth  "  ( Nibelungen 's  Need, 
extreme  Need,  or  final  wreck  and  abo- 
lition). 

The  Fifth  Act  of  our  strange  event- 
ful history  now  draws  on.  Chriemhild 
has  a  kind  husband,  of  hospitable  dis- 
position, who  troubles  himself  little 
about  her  secret  feelings  and  intents. 
With  his  permission,  she  sends  two 
minstrels,  inviting  the  Burgundian 
Court  to  a  high-tide  at  Ktzel's  ;  she 
has  charged  the  messengers  to  say 
that  she  is  happy,  and  to  bring  all 
Gunther's  champions  with  them.    Her 


^be  IFllbelungcn  %ict>  99 

eye  was  on  Hagen,  but  she  could  not 
single  him  from  the  rest.  After  seven 
days'  deliberation,  Gunther  answers 
that  he  will  come.  Hagen  has  loudly 
dissuaded  the  joume}^,  but  again  been 
overruled.  "It  is  his  fate,"  says  a 
commentator,  "like  Cassandra's,  ever 
to  foresee  the  evil,  and  ever  to  be  dis- 
regarded. He  himself  shut  his  ear 
against  the  inward  voice  ;  and  now  his 
warnings  are  uttered  to  the  deaf."  He 
argues  long,  but  in  vain  ;  nay,  young 
Gemot  hints  at  last  that  this  aversion 
originates  in  personal  fear  : 

Then  spake  Von  Troneg  Hagen  :     **  Nowise 

is  it  through  fear  ; 
So  you  command  it,  Heroes,     Then  up,  gird 

on  your  gear  ; 
I  ride  with  you  the  foremost     Into  King  Et- 

zel's  land." 
Since  then  full  many  a  helm    Was  shivered 

by  his  hand. 


Zbc  IFlibcIungen  Xiet) 


Frau  Ute's  dreams  and  omens  are 
now  unavailing  with  him  ;  "  whoso 
heedeth  dreams,"  says  Hagen,  "of 
the  right  story  wotteth  not  "  :  he  has 
computed  the  worst  issue,  and  defied  it. 

Many  a  Httle  touch  of  pathos,  and 
even  solemn  beauty  lies  carelessly  scat- 
tered in  these  rhymes,  had  we  space  to 
exhibit  such  here.  As  specimen  of  a 
strange,  winding,  diffuse,  yet  inno- 
cently graceful  style  of  narrative,  we 
have  translated  some  considerable  por- 
tion of  this  Twenty-fifth  Aveniiure^ 
* '  How  the  Nibelungen  marched  (fared) 
to  the  Huns,"  into  verses  as  literal  as 
might  be ;  which  now,  alas,  look 
mournfully  different  from  the  origi- 
nal ;  almost  like  Scriblerus'  shield 
when  the  barbarian  housemaid  had 
scoured  it !  Nevertheless,  to  do  for 
the  reader  what  we  can,  let  some- 
what of  that  modernized  ware,   such 


ZTbe  IRibclungen  XleD 


as  it  is,  be  set  before  him.  The  brave 
Nibelungen  are  on  the  eve  of  depart- 
ure, and  about  ferr^dng  over  the 
Rhine  ;  and  here  it  may  be  noted  that 
Worms,  *   with   our    old    Singer,  lies 

*  This  City  of  Worms,  had  we  a  right  imagination, 
ought  to  be  as  venerable  to  us  Modems,  as  any  Thebes 
or  Troy  was  to  the  Ancients.  Whether  founded  by 
the  Gods  or  not,  it  is  of  quite  unknown  antiquity,  and 
has  witnessed  the  most  wonderful  things.  Within 
authentic  times,  the  Romans  were  here  ;  and  if  tra- 
dition may  be  credited,  Attila  also  ;  it  was  the  seat 
of  the  Austrasian  kings  ;  the  frequent  residence  of 
Charlemagne  himself ;  innumerable  Festivals,  High- 
tides,  Tournaments,  and  Imperial  Diets  were  held  in 
it,  of  which  latter,  one  at  least,  that  where  I,uther 
appeared  in  1521,  will  be  forever  remembered  by  all 
mankind.  Nor  is  Worms  more  famous  in  history 
than,  as  indeed  we  may  see  here,  it  is  in  romance  ; 
whereof  many  monuments  and  vestiges  remain  to 
this  day.  "  A  pleasant  meadow  there,"  says  Von  der 
Hagen,  "  is  still  called  Chriemhild's  Rosengarten.  The 
name  Worms  itself  is  derived  (by  I,egendary  Ety- 
mology) from  the  Dragon,  or  Worm,  which  Siegfried 
slew,  the  figure  of  which  once  formed  the  City 
Arms  ;  in  past  times,  there  was  also  to  be  seen  here 
an  ancient,  strong  Riesen-Haus  (Giant's-house),  and 
many  a  memorial  of  Siegfried  :   his  I,ance,  66  feet 


I02  Zbc  IKllbelungen  XieD 

not  in  its  true  position,  but  at  some 
distance  from  the  river  ;  a  proof  at 
least  that  he  was  never  there,  and 
probably  sang  and  lived  in  some  very 
distant  region  : 

long  (almost  80  English  feet),  in  the  Cathedral ;  his 
Statue,  of  gigantic  size,  on  the  Neue  Thurm  (New 
Tower)  on  the  Rhine"  ;  etc.,  etc.  "  And  lastly  the 
Siegfried's  Chapel,  in  primeval,  Pre-Gothic  architec- 
ture, not  long  since  pulled  down.  In  the  time  of  the 
Meistersangers  too,  the  Stadtrath  was  bound  to  give 
every  Master,  who  sang  the  lay  of  Siegfried  ("  Meister- 
liedvon  Siegfrieden,"  the  purport  of  which  is  now 
unknown),  without  mistake,  a  certain  gratuity."— 
"  Glossary  to  the  Nibelungen,"  §  "  Worms." 

One  is  sorry  to  learn  that  this  famed  Imperial  City 
is  no  longer  Imperial,  but  much  fallen  in  every  way 
from  its  palmy  state  ;  the  30,000  inhabitants,  to  be 
found  there  in  Gustavus  Adolphus'  time,  having  now 
declined  into  some  6,800,—"  who  maintain  themselves 
by  wine-growing,  Rhine-boats,  tobacco-manufacture, 
and  making  sugar-of-lead."  So  hard  has  war,  which 
respects  nothing,  pressed  on  Worms,  ill-placed  for 
safety,  on  the  hostile  border,  lyouvois,  or  I,ouis  XIV., 
in  1689,  had  it  utterly  devastated  ;  whereby  in  the  inte- 
rior, "spaces  that  were  once  covered  with  build- 
ings are  now  gardens." — See  "  Conv.  I^exicon,"  2 
"  Worms." 


Zbe  IRibclungcn  XfeD  103 

The  boats  were  floating  ready,     And  many 

men  there  were  ; 
What  clothes  of  price  they  had      They  took 

and  stow'd  them  there, 
Was  never   a   rest   from   toiling    Until  the 

eventide, 
Then  they  took  the  flood  right  gaily,    Would 

longer  not  abide. 

Brave  tents  and  hutches    You  saw  raised  on 

the  grass. 
Other  side  the  Rhine-stream      That  camp  it 

pitched  was  : 
The  king  to  stay  awhile.      Was  besought  of 

his  fair  wife  ; 
That  night  she   saw   him  with  her,      And 

never  more  in  life. 

Trumpets  and  flutes  spoke  out.    At  dawning 

of  the  day, 
That  time  was  come  for  parting.      So  they 

rose  to  march  away  : 
Who  loved-one  had  in  arms      Did  kiss  that 

same,  I  ween  ; 
And  fond  farewells  were  bidden     By   cause 

of  Etzel's  Queen. 


I04  v^be  IRibelungen  XieO 

Frau  Ute's  noble  sons  They  had  a  serving- 
man, 

A  brave  one  and  a  true  :  Or  ever  the  march 
began, 

He  speaketh  to  King  Gunther,  What  for  his 
ear  was  fit, 

He  said  :  "  Woe  for  this  journey,  I  grieve 
because  of  it." 

He,  Rumold  hight,  the  Sewer,     Was  known 

as  hero  true ; 
He  spake  :    "  Whom  shall  this  people      And 

land  be  trusted  to  ? 
Woe  on  't,  will  nought  persuade  ye,      Brave 

Recken,  from  this  road  ! 
Frau   Chriemhild's   flattering   message     No 

good  doth  seem  to  bode." 

"  The  land  to  thee  be  trusted,      And  my  fair 

boy  also, 
And  serve  thou  well  the  women,     I  tell  thee 

ere  I  go  ; 
Whomso  thou   findest  weeping     Her  heart 

give  comfort  to  ; 
No   harm  to   one  of  us     King  Etzel's   wife 

will  do." 


XLbc  IRlbelungen  %iet>  105 

The   steeds   were  standing  ready,     For  the 

Kings  and  for  their  men  ; 
With  kisses  tenderest    Took  leave  full  many 

then, 
Who,  in  gallant  cheer  and  hope.     To  march 

were  nought  afraid : 
Them  since  that  day  bewaileth  Many  a  noble 

wife  and  maid. 

But  when  the  rapid  Recken   Took  horse  and 

prickt  away, 
The  women  shent  in  sorrow   You  saw  behind 

them  stay ; 
Of  parting  all  too  long     Their  hearts  to  them 

did  tell ; 
When  grief  so  great  is  coming,     The  mind 

forebodes  not  well. 

Nathless  the  brisk  Burgonden      All  on  their 

way  did  go. 
Then  rose  the  country  over     A  mickle  dole 

and  woe ; 
On  both  sides  of  the  hills     Woman  and  man 

did  weep : 
Let  their  folk  do  how  they  list,      These  gay 

their  course  did  keep. 


io6  Zbc  IRibclungen  Xie2) 


The  Nibelungen  Recken*    Did  march  with 

them  as  well, 
In  a  thousand  glittering  hauberks,     Who  at 

home  had  ta'en  farewell 
Of  many   a  fair  woman    Should  see  them 

never  more  : 
The  wound  of  her  brave  Siegfried   Did  grieve 

Chriemhilde  sore. 

Then  'gan  they  shape  their  journey  Towards 

the  River  Maine, 
All  on  through  East  Franconia,     King  Gun- 

ther  and  his  train  ; 
Hagen  he  was  their  leader,    Of  old  did  know 

the  way  ; 
Dank  wart  did  keep,  as  marshal,   Their  ranks 

in  good  array. 

As  they,  from  Bast  Franconia,     The  Salfield 
rode  along, 

*  These  are  the  Nibelungen  proper  who  had  come 
to  Worms  with  Siegfried,  on  the  famed  bridal  journey 
from  Isenstein,  long  ago.  Observe,  at  the  same 
time,  that  ever  since  the  Nibelungen  Hoard  was 
transferred  to  the  Rhineland,  the  whole  subjects  of 
King  Gunther  are  often  called  Nibelungen,  and 
their  subsequent  history  is  this  "  Nibelungen  Song." 


^be  IRlbelungcn  XlcD  107 

Might  you   have   seen   them   prancing,     A 

bright  and  lordl}^  throng, 
The  Princes  and  their  vassals,    All  heroes  of 

great  fame  : 
The  twelfth  mom  brave  King  Gunther     Unto 

the  Donau  came. 

Then  rode  Von  Troneg  Hagen,   The  foremost 

of  that  host, 
He  was  to  the  Nibelungen     The  guide  they 

lov'd  the  most : 
The  Ritter  keen  dismounted.     Set  foot  on 

the  sandy  ground, 
His  steed  to  a  tree  he  tied,      Ivooked  wistful 

all  around. 

"Much  scaith,"  Von  Troneg  said,     ''May 

lightly  chance  to  thee, 
King  Gunther,  by  this  tide,     As  thou  with 

eyes  mayst  see  : 
The  river  is  overflowing,     Full  strong  runs 

here  its  stream, 
For  crossing  of  this  Donau     Some  counsel 

might  well  beseem." 

"What  counsel  hast  thou,  brave    Hagen," 
King  Gunther  then  did  say, 


io8  ^be  Ifttbclungen  XieD 

"  Of  thy  own  wit  and  cunning  ?     Dishearten 

me  not,  I  pray  : 
Thyself  the  ford  wilt  find  us,     If  knightly 

skill  it  can, 
That  safe  to  yonder  shore    We  may  pass  both 

horse  and  man." 


"  To  me,  I  trow,"  spake  Hagen,    "  Life  hath 

not  grown  so  cheap, 
To  go  with  will  and  drown  me     In  riding 

these  waters  deep  ; 
But  first,  of  men  some  few     By  this  hand  of 

mine  shall  die, 
In   great  King  Etzel's    country,       As   best 

good-will  have  I. 


"  But  bide  ye  here  by  the  River,     Ye  Ritters 

brisk  and  sound. 
Myself  will  seek  some  boatman.     If  boatman 

here  be  found. 
To  row  us  at  his  ferry,     Across  to  Gelfrat's 

land  :  " 
The  Troueger  grasped  his  buckler,     l-'ared 

forth  along  the  strand. 


Zbc  Blbelungcn  XieD  109 

He  was  full  bravely  harness' d,     Himself  lie 

knightly  bore, 
With    buckler    and    with    helmet,     Which 

bright  enough  he  wore ; 
And,  bound  above  his  hauberk,     A  weapon 

broad  was  seen. 
That  cut  with  both  its  edges,     Was  never 

sword  so  keen. 

Then   hither   he  and  thither     Search 'd   for 

the  Ferryman, 
He  heard  a  splashing  of  waters,     To  watch 

the  same  he  'gan. 
It  was  the  white   Mer-women,     That   in    a 

fountain  clear, 
To   cool   their  fair   bodyes,     Were   merrily 

bathing  here. 

From  these  Mer-women,  who  "  skim- 
med aloof  like  white  cygnets ' '  at  sight 
of  him,  Hagen  snatches  up  "  their  won- 
drous raiment  " ;  on  condition  of  return- 
ing which,  they  rede  him  his  fortune  ; 
how  his  expedition  is  to  speed.  At 
first  favorably : 


^be  IFlibelungen  XicO 


She  said  :  **To  Btzel's  country     Of  a  truth 

ye  well  may  hie, 
For  here  I  pledge  my  hand,    Now  kill  me  if 

Hie, 
That  heroes  seeking  honor    Did  never  arrive 

thereat 
So    richly    as    ye   shall   do,      Believe  thou 

surely  that." 


But  no  sooner  is  the  wondrous  rai- 
ment restored  them  than  they  change 
their  tale  ;  for  in  spite  of  that  match- 
less honor,  it  appears  every  one  of  the 
adventurous  Recken  is  to  perish. 


Outspake  the  wild  Mer-woman  :  "I  tell 
thee  it  will  arrive, 

Of  all  your  gallant  host  No  man  shall  be 
left  alive, 

Except  King  Gunther's  chaplain,  As  we 
full  well  do  know  ; 

He  only,  home  returning,  To  the  Rhine- 
land  back  shall  go." 


^be  IKlibcIungen  XieD 


Then  spake  Von  Troneg  Hagen,    His  wrath 

did  fiercely  swell : 
"Such  tidings  to  my  master     I  were  right 

loath  to  tell, 
That  in  King  Etzel's  country     We  all  must 

lose  our  life : 
Yet  show  me  over  the  water,     Thou  wise 

all-knowing  wifey 

Thereupon,  seeing  him  bent  on  ruin, 
she  gives  directions  how  to  find  the 
ferry,  but  withal  counsels  him  to  deal 
warily  ;  the  ferry-house  stands  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river ;  the  boat- 
man, too,  is  not  only  the  hottest-tem- 
pered of  men,  but  rich  and  indolent ; 
nevertheless,  if  nothing  else  will  serve, 
let  Hagen  call  himself  Amelrich,  and 
that  will  bring  him.  All  happens  as 
predicted  :  the  boatman,  heedless  of 
all  shouting  and  offers  of  gold  clasps, 
bestirs  him  lustily  at  the  name  of  Amel- 
rich ;  but  the  more  indignant  is  he,  on 


^be  naibelungcn  XieO 


taking-in  his  fare,  to  find  it  counterfeit. 
He  orders  Hagen,  if  he  loves  his  life, 
to  leap  out. 

"Now  say  not  that,"  spake  Hagen  ;     "Right 

hard  am  I  bested, 
Take  from  me   for  good  friendship     This 

clasp  of  gold  so  red  ; 
And  row  our  thousand  heroes     And  steeds 

across  this  river," 
Then  spake  the  wrathful  boatman,     "That 

will  I  surely  never." 

Then  one  of  his  oars  he  lifted.     Right  broad 

it  was  and  long, 
He  struck  it  down  on  Hagen,     Did  the  hero 

mickle  wrong. 
That  in  the  boat  he  staggered,     And  alighted 

on  his  knee  ; 
Other  such  wrathful  boatman.     Did  never 

the  Troneger  see. 

His  proud  unbidden  guest    He  would  now 
provoke  still  more, 


Zbc  IRibelungcn  XieO  113 

He  struck  his  head  so  stoutly     That  it  broke 

in  twain  the  oar, 
With  strokes  on  head  of  Hagen  ;     He  was  a 

sturdy  wight : 
Nathless  had  Gelfrat's  boatman    Small  profit 

of  that  fight. 


With  fiercely  raging  spirit    The  Troneger 

tum'd  him  round, 
Clutch' d  quick  enough  his  scabbard,     And  a 

weapon  there  he  found  ; 
He  smote  his  head  from  off  him,     And  cast 

it  on  the  sand, 
Thus  had  that  wrathful  boatman     His  death 

from  Hagen's  hand. 


Even  as  Von  Troneg  Hagen    The  wrathful 

boatman  slew, 
The  boat  whirl'  d  round  to  the  river,     He  had 

work  enough  to  do  : 
Or  ever  he  turn'd  it  shorewards.     To  weary 

he  began, 
But  kept  full  stoutly  rowing.     The  bold  King 

Gunther's  man. 


114  ^be  Iftibelun^en  XteD 

He  wheel'd  it  back,  brave  Hagen,  With 
many  a  lusty  stroke, 

The  strong  oar,  with  such  rowing,  In  his 
hand  asunder  broke ; 

He  fain  would  reach  the  Recken,  All  wait- 
ing on  the  shore. 

No  tackle  now  he  had  ;  Hei,*  how  deftly  he 
spliced  the  oar, 

With  thong  from  off  his  buckler  !     It  was  a 

slender  band  ; 
Right  over  against  a  forest     He  drove  the 

boat  to  land  ; 
Where  Gunther's  Recken  waited,    In  crowds 

along  the  beach ; 
Full  many  a  goodly  hero     Moved  down  his 

boat  to  reach. 

*  These  apparently  insignificant  circumstances, 
down  even  to  mending  the  oar  from  his  shield,  are 
preserved  with  a  singular  fidelity  in  the  most  dis- 
torted editions  of  the  Tale  ;  see,  for  example,  the 
Danish  ballad,  '%ady  Grimhild's  Wrack ' '  (translated 
in  the  "  Northern  Antiquities,"  p.  275,  by  Mr.  Jamie- 
son).  This  "  Hei  !"  is  a  brisk  interjection,  whereby 
the  worthy  old  Singer  now  and  then  introduces  his 
own  person,  when  any  thing  very  eminent  is  going 
forward. 


^be  IFllbelungcn  %icb         115 

Hagen  ferries  them  over  himself 
*'  into  the  unknown  land, ' '  like  a  right 
yare  steersman  ;  yet  ever  brooding 
fiercely  on  that  prediction  of  the  wild 
Mer- woman,  which  had  outdone  even 
his  own  dark  forebodings.  Seeing  the 
Chaplain,  who  alone  of  them  all  was  to 
return,  standing  in  the  boat  beside  his 
chappelsoume  (pyxes  and  other  sacred 
furniture),  he  determines  to  belie  at 
least  this  part  of  the  prophecy,  and  on 
a  sudden  hurls  the  chaplain  overboard. 
Nay,  as  the  poor  priest  swims  after  the 
boat,  he  pushes  him  down,  regardless 
of  all  remonstrance,  resolved  that  he 
shall  die.  Nevertheless  it  proved  not 
so  :  the  chaplain  made  for  the  other 
side ;  when  his  strength  failed,  ' '  then 
God's  hand  helped  him,"  and  at  length 
he  reached  the  shore.  Thus  does  the 
stem  truth  stand  revealed  to  Hagen, 
by  the  ver}^  means  he  took  for  eluding 


ii6  ZTbe  IRibelungen  Xie^ 

it :  "  he  thought  with  himself  these 
Recken  must  all  lose  their  lives." 
From  this  time,  a  grim,  reckless  spirit 
takes  possession  of  him  ;  a  courage,  an 
audacit}^,  waxing  more  and  more  into 
the  fixed  strength  of  desperation.  The 
passage  once  finished,  he  dashes  the 
boat  in  pieces,  and  casts  it  in  the 
stream,  greatly  as  the  others  wonder  at 
him. 

'  *  Why  do  ye  this,  good  brother  ?  ' '     Said  the 

Ritter  Dankwart  then  ; 
"  How  shall  we  cross  this  river.     When  the 

road  we  come  again  ? 
Returning  home  from  Hunlaud,     Here  must 

we  lingering  stay  ?  " — 
Not  then  did  Hagen  tell  him     That  return 

no  more  could  they. 

In  this  shipment ' '  into  the  unknown 
land,"  there  lies,  for  the  more  pene- 
trating   sort   of   commentators,    some 


XLbc  'UibclnrxQcn  %ictf  117 

hidden  meaning  and  allusion.  The 
destruction  of  the  unretuming  Ship,  as 
of  the  Ship  Argo,  of  Eneas'  Ships, 
and  the  like,  is  a  constant  feature  of 
such  traditions.  It  is  thought,  this 
ferrying  of  the  Nibelungen  has  a  ref- 
erence to  old  Scandinavian  Mythuses  ; 
nay,  to  the  oldest,  most  universal 
emblems  shaped  out  by  man's  Imagi- 
nation ;  Hagen  the  ferr^^man  being,  in 
some  sort,  a  type  of  Death,  who  ferries 
over  his  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands into  a  I^and  still  more  unknown.* 
But  leaving  these  considerations,  let 
us  remark  the  deep,  fearful  interest 
which,  in  gathering  strength,  rises  to 
a  really  tragical  height  in  the  close  of 
this  Poem.  Strangely  has  the  old 
Singer,  in  these  his  loose  melodies, 
modulated   the  wild   narrative  into   a 

*  See  Von  der  Hagen 's  "  Nibelungen,  ihre  Bedeu- 
tung,"  etc. 


ii8  ZTbe  Bibelungen  %ic^ 


poetic  whole,  with,  what  we  might  call 
true  art,  were  it  not  rather  an  instinct 
of  genius  still  more  unerring.  A 
fateful  gloom  now  hangs  over  the 
fortunes  of  the  Nibelungen,  which 
deepens  and  deepens  as  they  march 
onwards  to  the  judgment-bar,  till  all 
are  engulfed  in  utter  night. 

Hagen  himself  rises  in  tragic  great- 
ness ;  so  helpful,  so  prompt  and  strong 
is  he,  and  true  to  the  death,  though 
without  hope.  If  sin  can  ever  be 
pardoned,  then  that  one  act  of  his  is 
pardonable  ;  by  loyal  faith,  by  free 
daring  and  heroic  constancy,  he  has 
made  amends  for  it.  Well  does  he 
know  what  is  coming  ;  yet  he  goes 
forth  to  meet  it,  offers  to  Ruin  his 
sullen  welcome.  Warnings  thicken  on 
him,  which  he  treats  lightly,  as  things 
now  superfluous.  Spite  of  our  love  for 
Siegfried,   we   must  pity   and   almost 


ZTbe  IRibelun^en  %ict>  119 

respect  the  lost  Hagen  now  in  his 
extreme  need,  and  fronting  it  so  nobly. 
* '  Mixed  was  his  hair  with  a  gray  color, 
his  limbs  strong,  and  threatening  his 
look."  Nay,  his  sterner  qualities  are 
beautifulty  tempered  by  another  feel- 
ing, of  which  till  now  we  understood 
not  that  he  was  capable, — the  feeling 
of  friendship.  There  is  a  certain  Volker 
of  Alsace  here  introduced,  not  for  the 
first  time,  yet  first  in  decided  energy, 
who  is  more  to  Hagen  than  a  brother. 
This  Volker,  a  courtier  and  noble,  is 
also  a  Spielma7i7i  (minstrel),  a  Fidelere 
gut  (fiddler  good) ;  and  surely  the 
prince  of  all  Fideleres  ;  in  truth  a  very 
phoenix,  melodious  as  the  soft  nightin- 
gale, 3^et  strong  as  the  royal  eagle  :  for 
also  in  the  brunt  of  battle  he  can  play 
tunes  ;  and  with  a  Steel  Fiddlebow  beats 
strange  music  from  the  cleft  helmets 
of  his  enemies.     There  is,  in  this  con- 


I20  ^be  Bibclunaen  XteD 

tinual  allusion  to  Volker's  Schwert- 
Jidelboge7i  (Sword-fiddlebow),  as  rude 
as  it  sounds  to  us,  a  barbaric  greatness 
and  depth  ;  the  light  minstrel  of  kingly 
and  queenly  halls  is  gay  also  in  the 
storm  of  Fate  ;  its  dire  rushing  pipes 
and  whistles  to  him  :  is  he  not  the 
image  of  every  brave  man  fighting 
with  Necessity,  be  that  duel  when  and 
where  it  may  ;  smiting  the  fiend  with 
giant  strokes,  yet  every  stroke  musical  f 
— This  Volker  and  Hagen  are  united 
inseparably,  and  defy  death  together. 
* '  Whatever  Volker  said  pleased  Ha- 
gen ;  whatever  Hagen  did  pleased 
Volker." 

But  into  these  last  Ten  AventiureSy 
almost  like  the  image  of  a  Doomsday, 
we  must  hardly  glance  at  present. 
Seldom,  perhaps,  in  the  poetry  of 
that  or  any  other  age,  has  a  grander 
scene  of  pity  and  terror  been  exhibited 


^be  IRlbelunoen  XleO 


than  here,  could  we  look  into  it  clearl3\ 
At  ever>^  new  step  new  shapes  of  fear 
arise.  Dietrich  of  Bern  meets  the 
Nibelungen  on  their  way,  with  omi- 
nous warnings  :  but  warnings,  as  we 
said,  are  now  superfluous,  when  the 
evil  itself  is  apparent  and  inevitable. 
Chriemhild,  w^asted  and  exasperated 
here  into  a  frightful  Medea,  openly 
threatens  Hagen,  but  is  openly  defied 
b}^  him  ;  he  and  Volker  retire  to  a  seat 
before  her  palace,  and  sit  there,  while 
she  advances  in  angry  tears,  with  a 
crowd  of  armed  Huns,  to  destro}'-  them. 
But  Hagen  has  Siegfried's  Balmung 
lying  naked  on  his  knee,  the  Minstrel 
also  has  drawn  his  keen  Fiddlebow, 
and  the  Huns  dare  not  provoke  the 
battle.  Chriemhild  would  fain  single 
out  Hagen  for  vengeance  ;  but  Hagen, 
Hke  other  men,  stands  not  alone  ;  and 
sin  is  an  infection  which  will  not  rest 


122  ^be  IRibelungcn  XieD 


with  one  victim.  Partakers  or  not  of 
his  crime,  the  others  also  must  share 
his  punishment.  Singularly  touching, 
in  the  meanwhile,  is  King  Etzel's 
ignorance  of  what  every  one  else  un- 
derstands too  well ;  and  how,  in  peace- 
ful, hospitable  spirit,  he  exerts  himself 
to  testify  his  joy  over  these  royal  guests 
of  his,  who  are  bidden  hither  for  far 
other  ends.  That  night  the  wayworn 
Nibelungen  are  sumptuously  lodged  ; 
yet  Hagen  and  Volker  see  good  to  keep 
watch.  Volker  plays  them  to  sleep. 
''  Under  the  porch  of  the  house  he  sat 
on  the  stone  :  bolder  fiddler  was  there 
never  any  ;  when  the  tones  flowed  so 
sweetly,  they  all  gave  him  thanks. 
Then  sounded  his  strings  till  all  the 
house  rang  ;  his  strength  and  the  art 
were  great ;  sweeter  and  sweeter  he 
began  to  play,  till  flitted  forth  from 
him  into  sleep  full  many  a  careworn 


^be  Wbelungcn  %ict>  123 

soul. ' '  It  was  their  last  lullaby  ;  they 
were  to  sleep  no  more.  Armed  men 
appear,  but  suddenly  vanish,  in  the 
night ;  assassins  sent  by  Chriemhild, 
expecting  no  sentinel :  it  is  plain  that 
the  last  hour  draws  nigh. 

In  the  morning  the  Nibelungen  are 
for  the  Minster  to  hear  mass  ;  thej^ 
are  putting  on  gay  raiment ;  but  Ha- 
gen  tells  them  a  different  tale  :  "ye 
must  take  other  garments,  Recken  ; 
instead  of  silk  shirts  hauberks,  for 
rich  mantles  3'our  good  shields  ;  and, 
beloved  masters,  moreover  squires  and 
men,  ye  shall  full  earnestly  go  to  the 
church,  and  plain  to  God  the  powerful 
(Gof  dem  richeii)  of  your  sorrow  and 
utmost  need  ;  and  know  of  a  surety 
that  death  for  us  is  nigh."  In  Ktzel's 
Hall,  where  the  Nibelungen  appear 
at  the  ro3^al  feast  in  complete  armor, 
the  Strife,  incited  b}^  Chriemhild,  be- 


124  XTbe  IFlibelunGcn  XieD 

gins  ;  the  first  answer  to  her  provoca- 
tion is  from  Hagen,  who  hews  off  the 
head  of  her  own  and  Ktzel's  son, 
making  it  bound  into  the  mother's 
bosom  :  "  then  began  among  the 
Recken  a  murder  grim  and  great." 
Dietrich,  with  a  voice  of  preternatural 
power,  commands  pause  ;  retires  with 
Ktzel  and  Chriemhild ;  and  now  the 
blood}^  work  has  free  course.  We  have 
heard  of  battles,  and  massacres,  and 
deadly  struggles  in  siege  and  storm ; 
but  seldom  has  even  the  poet's  im- 
agination pictured  any  thing  so  fierce 
and  terrible  as  this.  Host  after  host, 
as  they  enter  that  huge  vaulted  Hall, 
perish  in  conflict  wnth  the  doomed 
Nibelungen  ;  and  ever  after  the  terrific 
uproar,  ensues  a  still  more  terrific 
silence.  All  night  and  through  morn- 
ing it  lasts.  They  throw  the  dead 
from  the  windows  :    blood  runs  like 


^be  IRlljelungen  XteD         125 

water  ;  the  Hall  is  set  fire  to,  they 
quench  it  with  blood,  their  own  burn- 
ing thirst  they  slake  with  blood.  It  is 
a  tumult  like  the  Crack  of  Doom,  a 
thousand-voiced,  wild-stunning  hub- 
bub ;  and,  frightful  like  a  Trump  of 
doom,  the  Sword-fiddlebow  of  Volker, 
who  guards  the  door,  makes  music  to 
that  death-dance.  Nor  are  traits  of 
heroism  wanting,  and  thrilling  tones 
of  pity  and  love  ;  as  in  that  act  of 
Rudiger,  Etzel's  and  Chriemhild's 
champion,  who,  bound  by  oath,  "  lays 
his  soul  in  God's  hand,"  and  enters 
that  Golgotha  to  die  fighting  against 
his  friends  ;  yet  first  changes  shields 
with  Hagen,  whose  own,  also  given 
him  by  Rudiger  in  a  far  other  hour, 
had  been  shattered  in  the  fight.  ' '  When 
he  so  lovingly  bade  give  him  the  shield, 
there  were  eyes  enough  red  with  hot 
tears  ;  it  was  the  last  gift  which  Rudi- 


126  tibe  IWibelungcn  XleD 

ger  of  Bechelaren  gave  to  any  Recke. 
As  grim  as  Hagen  was,  and  as  hard  of 
mind,  he  wept  at  this  gift  which  the 
hero  good,  so  near  his  last  times,  had 
given  him  ;  full  many  a  noble  Ritter 
began  to  weep." 

At  last  Volker  is  slain  ;  they  are  all 
slain,  save  only  Hagen  and  Gunther, 
faint  and  wounded,  yet  still  uncon- 
quered  among  the  bodies  of  the  dead, 
Dietrich  the  warj^,  though  strong  and 
invincible,  whose  Recken  too,  except 
old  Hildebrand,  he  now  finds  are  all 
killed,  though  he  had  charged  them 
strictly  not  to  mix  in  the  quarrel,  at 
last  arms  himself  to  finish  it.  He  sub- 
dues the  two  wearied  Nibelungen,  binds 
them,  delivers  them  to  Chriemhild  ; 
' '  and  Herr  Dietrich  went  away  with 
weeping  eyes,  worthily  from  the  he- 
roes." These  never  saw  each  other 
more.    Chriemhild  demands  of  Hagen, 


^be  IRibclungen  XleO  127 


Where  the  Nebelungen  Hoard  is  ? 
But  he  answers  her,  that  he  has  sworn 
never  to  disclose  it  while  any  of  her 
brothers  live.  ' '  I  bring  it  to  an  end, ' ' 
said  the  infuriated  woman  ;  orders  her 
brother's  head  to  be  struck  off,  and 
holds  it  up  to  Hagen.  *'  *  Thou  hast 
it  now  according  to  thy  will,'  said 
Hagen  ;  '  of  the  Hoard  knoweth  none 
but  God  and  I ;  from  thee,  she-devil 
{valendinne) ,  shall  it  forever  be  hid.'  " 
She  kills  him  with  his  owm  sw^ord, 
once  her  husband's  ;  and  is  herself 
struck  dead  by  Hildebrand,  indignant 
at  the  woe  she  has  wrought;  King 
Ktzel,  there  present,  not  opposing  the 
deed.  Whereupon  the  curtain  drops 
over  that  wild  scene.  ' '  The  full  highly 
honored  were  lying  dead ;  the  people 
all  had  sorrow  and  lamentation  ;  in 
grief  had  the  king's  feast  ended,  as  all 
love  is  wont  to  do." 


128  XLbc  IFlibelungen  %ict> 

Ine  chan  hi  nicht  bescheiden     Waz  sider  da 

geschach, 
Wan  ritter  unde  wrovven      Weinen  man  do 

sack, 
Dar-zuo  die  edeln  chnechte    Ir  lieben  vri- 

unde  tot  : 
Da  hat  das  mcsre  ein  ende ;    Diz  ist  der 

Nibelunge  not. 

I  cannot  say  you  now     What  hath  befallen 

since ; 
The  women  all  were  weeping,     And  the  Rit- 

ters  and  the  prince, 
Also  the  noble  squires,      Their  dear  friends 

lying  dead  : 
Here  hath  the   story  ending ;     This  is  the 

Nibelungen's  Need. 

We  have  now  finished  our  slight 
analysis  of  this  Poem  ;  and  hope  that 
readers  who  are  curious  in  this  matter, 
and  ask  themselves,  What  is  the 
*'  Nibelungen  "  ?  ma}^  have  here  found 
some  outlines  of  an  answer,  some  help 


XLbc  Haibelungen  %ic^  129 

towards  farther  researches  of  their  own. 
To  such  readers  another  question  will 
suggest  itself:  Whence  this  singular 
production  comes  to  us,  When  and 
How  it  originated  ?  On  which  point 
also,  w^hat  little  light  our  investigation 
has  yielded  may  be  summarily  given. 
The  worthy  Von  der  Hagen,  who 
may  well  understand  the  ''  Nibe- 
lungen  ' '  better  then  any  other  man, 
having  rendered  it  into  the  modem 
tongue,  and  twice  edited  it  in  the 
original,  not  without  collating  some 
eleven  manuscripts,  and  travelling  sev- 
eral thousands  of  miles  to  make  the  last 
edition  perfect, — writes  a  Book  some 
years  ago,  rather  boldly  denominated 
"  The  Nibelungen,  its  Meaning  for  the 
present  and  forever ' '  ;  wherein,  not 
content  with  any  measurable  antiquity 
of  centuries,  he  would  fain  claim  an 
antiquit}^  beyond  all  bounds  of  dated 


130         ^be  Iftibelungen  Xiet) 

time.  Working  his  way  with  feeble 
mine-lamps  of  etymology  and  the  like, 
he  traces  back  the  rudiments  of  his 
beloved  "  Nibelungen,"  ''to  which 
the  flower  of  his  whole  life  has  been 
consecrated,"  into  the  thick  darkness 
of  the  Scandinavian  Niflheim  and 
Muspelhehn^  and  the  Hindoo  Cosmog- 
ony ;  connecting  it  farther  (as  already 
in  part  we  have  incidentally  pointed 
out)  with  the  Ship  Argo,  with  Jupiter's 
goatskin  -^gis,  the  fire-creed  of  Zer- 
dusht,  and  even  with  the  heavenly 
Constellations.  His  reasoning  is  some- 
what abstruse  ;  yet  an  honest  zeal,  very 
considerable  learning  and  intellectual 
force  bring  him  tolerably  through. 
So  much  he  renders  plausible  or  prob- 
able, that  in  the  "  Nibelungen," 
under  more  or  less  defacement,  lie 
fragments,  scattered  like  mysterious 
Runes,  yet  still  in  part  decipherable, 


Zbc  IRlbelun^en  XleD  131 

of  the  earliest  Thoughts  of  men  ;  that 
the  fiction  of  the  ' '  Nibelungen  ' '  was 
at  first  a  reHgious  or  philosophical 
Mythus;  and  only  in  later  ages,  in- 
corporating itself  more  or  less  com- 
pletely with  vague  traditions  of  real 
events,  took  the  form  of  a  stor>^  or 
mere  Narrative  of  earthly  transactions; 
in  which  last  form,  moreover,  our 
actual  ' '  Nibelungen  Lied  ' '  is  nowise 
the  original  Narrative,  but  the  second, 
or  even  the  third  redaction  of  one  much 
earlier. 

At  what  particular  era  the  primeval 
fiction  of  the  ' '  Nibelungen  ' '  passed 
from  its  Mythological  into  its  Histori- 
cal shape ;  and  the  obscure  spiritual 
elements  of  it  wedded  themselves  to 
the  obscure  remembrances  of  the 
Northern  Immigrations ;  and  the 
Twelve  Signs  of  the  Zodiac  became 
Twelve   Champions  of  Attila's  Wife, 


132  ^be  IRtbclungen  %ict> 

— there  is  no  fixing  with  the  smallest 
certainty.  It  is  known  from  history 
that  Kginhart,  the  secretary  of  Charle- 
magne, compiled,  by  order  of  that 
monarch,  a  collection  of  the  ancient 
German  Songs ;  among  which,  it  is 
fondly  believed  by  antiquaries,  this 
* '  Nibelungen  ' '  (not  indeed  our  actual 
*'  Nibelungen  lyied,"  yet  an  older  one 
of  similar  purport),  and  the  main  tra- 
ditions of  the  ' '  Heldenbuch  ' '  con- 
nected therewith,  may  have  had  hon- 
orable place.  Unluckily  Kginhart' s 
Collection  has  quite  perished,  and  only 
his  lyife  of  the  Great  Charles,  in  which 
this  circumstance  stands  noted,  survives 
to  provoke  curiosity.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain, Fulco,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  in 
the  year  885,  is  introduced  as  "  citing 
certain  German  books,"  to  enforce 
some  argument  of  his  by  instance  of 
"  King  Krmerich's  crime  toward  his 


Zbc  'Uibclnngcn  %ic^  133 

relations ' '  ;  which  King  Ermerich  and 
his  crime  are  at  this  day  part  and 
parcel  of  the  ''  Cycle  of  German  Fic- 
tion," and  presupposed  in  the  "  Nibe- 
lungen.*  Later  notices,  of  a  more 
decisive  sort,  occur  in  abundance. 
Saxo  Grammaticus,  who  flourished  in 
the  twelfth  century,  relates  that  about 
the  year  1130,  a  Saxon  Minstrel  being 
sent  to  Seeland,  with  a  treacherous 
invitation  from  one  royal  Dane  to 
another  ;  and  not  daring  to  violate  his 
oath,  yet  compassionating  the  victim, 
sang  to  him  by  way  of  indirect  warning 
"  the  Song  of  Chriemhild's  Treachery 
to  her  Brothers  ' '  ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
latter  portion  of  the  Stor>^  which  we 
still  read  at  greater  length  in  the  ex- 
isting "  Nibelungen  Lied."  To  which 
direct  evidence,  that  these  traditions 
were  universally  known  in  the  twelfth 

*  Von  der  Hagen's  "Nibelungen"  Emleitung,  §  vii. 


134         ^be  IFUbelungen  %ict> 


century,  nay,  had  been  in  some  shape 
committed  to  writing,  as  '  *  German 
Books, ' '  in  the  ninth  or  rather  in  the 
eighth, — we  have  still  to  add  the  prob- 
ability of  there  being  ' '  ancient  songs, ' ' 
even  at  that  earliest  date;  all  which 
may  perhaps  carry  us  back  into  the 
seventh  or  even  sixth  century  ;  yet  not 
farther,  inasmuch  as  certain  of  the 
poetic  personages  that  figure  in  them 
belong  historically  to  the  fifth. 

Other  and  more  open  proof  of  an- 
tiquity lies  in  the  fact,  that  these 
Traditions  are  so  universally  diffused. 
There  are  Danish  and  Icelandic  ver- 
sions of  them,  externally  more  or  less 
altered  and  distorted,  yet  substantially 
real  copies,  professing  indeed  to  be 
borrowed  from  the  German  ;  in  partic- 
ular we  have  the  *  *  Niflinga  ' '  and  the 
' '  Wilkina  Saga, ' '  composed  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,   which  still   in   many 


^be  IRtbelunaen  XicD  135 

ways  illustrate  the  German  original. 
Innumerable  other  songs  and  sagas 
point  more  remotely  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. Nay,  as  Von  der  Hagen  informs 
us,  certain  rhymed  tales,  founded  on 
these  old  adventures,  have  been  re- 
covered from  popular  recitation,  in  the 
Faroe  Islands,  within  these  few  years. 
If  we  ask  now.  What  lineaments  of 
Fact  still  exist  in  these  Traditions ; 
what  are  the  Historical  events  and 
persons  which  our  primeval  Myth- 
uses  have  here  united  with,  and  so 
strangel}^  metamorphosed  ?  the  answer 
is  unsatisfactory  enough.  The  great 
Northern  Immigrations,  unspeakably 
momentous  and  glorious  as  they  were 
for  the  Germans,  have  wellnigh  faded 
away  utterly  from  all  vernacular  rec- 
ords. Some  traces,  nevertheless,  some 
names  and  dim  shadows  of  occurrences 
in  that  grand  movement,   still   linger 


136  ^be  IWlbelungen  Xic& 

here  ;  which,  in  such  circumstances, 
we  gather  with  avidity.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  for  example,  but  this 
**Etzel,  king  of  Hunland,"  is  the 
Attila  of  history,  several  of  whose 
real  achievements  and  relations  are 
faintly  yet  still  recognizably  pictured 
forth  in  these  Poems.  Thus  his  first 
queen  is  named  Halke,  and  in  the 
Scandinavian  versions,  Herka  ;  which 
last  (Krca)  is  also  the  name  that  Pris- 
cus  gives  her,  in  the  well-known 
account  of  his  embassy  to  Attila. 
Moreover,  it  is  on  his  second  mar- 
riage, which  had  in  fact  so  mj^sterious 
and  tragical  a  character,  that  the  w^hole 
catastrophe  of  the  '*  Nibelungen  " 
turns.  It  is  true,  the  ' '  Scourge  of 
God ' '  plays  but  a  tame  part  here  ; 
however,  his  great  acts,  though  all 
past,  are  still  visible  in  their  fruits  ; 
besides,  it  is  on  the  Northern  or  Ger- 


Zbc  taibelun^en  %ict>  137 

man    personages    that    the    tradition 
chiefly  dwells. 

Taking  further  into  account  the 
general  "  Cycle,"  or  System  of  North- 
ern Tradition,  whereof  this  "  Nibe- 
lungen  ' '  is  the  centre  and  keystone, 
there  is,  as  we  saw  in  the  '^Helden- 
buch,"  a  certain  Kaiser  Ottnit  and  a 
Dietrich  of  Bern  ;  to  whom  also  it 
seems  unreasonable  to  deny  historical 
existence.  This  Bern  (Verona),  as 
well  as  the  Rabe7ischlacht  (Battle  of 
Ravenna),  is  continually  figuring  in 
these  fictions  ;  though  whether  under 
Ottnit  we  are  to  understand  Odoacer 
the  vanquished,  and  under  Dietrich  of 
Bern  Theodoricus  Veronensis,  the  vic- 
tor both  at  Verona  and  Ravenna,  is 
by  no  means  so  indubitable.  Chrono- 
logical difficulties  stand  much  in  the 
way.  For  our  Dietrich  of  Bern,  as  we 
saw  in   the  "  Nibelungen,"  is  repre- 


138  XLbc  mtbclungen  XieD 


sented  as  one  of  Etzel's  Champions. 
Now  Attila  died  about  the  year  450  ; 
and  this  Ostrogoth  Theodoric  did  not 
fight  his  great  battle  at  Verona  till 
489  ;  that  of  Ravenna,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  three  years'  siege,  happen- 
ing next  year.  So  that  before  Dietrich 
could  become  Dietrich  0/  Bern,  Etzel 
had  been  gone  almost  half  a  century 
from  the  scene.  Startled  by  this 
anachronism,  some  commentators  have 
fished  out  another  Theodoric,  eighty 
years  prior  to  him  of  Verona,  and  who 
actually  served  in  Attila' s  hosts,  with 
a  retinue  of  Goths  and  Germans  ;  with 
which  new  Theodoric,  however,  the 
old  Ottnit,  or  Odoacer,  of  the  "  Hel- 
denbuch ' '  must,  in  his  turn,  part 
company ;  whereby  the  case  is  no 
whit  mended.  Certain  it  seems,  in  the 
meantime,  that  Dietrich,  which  signi- 
fies Rich  in  People,  is  the  same  name 


tLbc  IRibelungen  %ict>  139 

which  in  Greek  becomes  Theodoricus  ; 
for  at  first  (as  in  Procopius)  this  very 
Theodoricus'vs,  always  written  Qsvdspix^ 
which  almost  exactly  corresponds  with 
the  German  sound.  But  such  are  the 
inconsistencies  involved  in  both  hy- 
potheses, that  we  are  forced  to  con- 
clude one  of  two  things  :  either  that 
the  Singers  of  those  old  Lays  were 
little  versed  in  the  niceties  of  History, 
and  unambitious  of  passing  for  authori- 
ties therein,  which  seems  a  remarkably 
easy  conclusion  ;  or  else,  with  Lessing, 
that  they  meant  some  quite  other 
series  of  persons  and  transactions, 
some  Kaiser  Otto,  and  his  two  Anti- 
Kaisers  (in  the  twelfth  century)  ; 
which,  from  what  has  come  to  light 
since  Lessing's  day,  seems  now  an  un- 
tenable position. 

However,  as  concerns  the  ' '  Nibelun- 
gen, ' '  the  most  remarkable  coincidence, 


140         ^be  Blbclungen  XicD 

if  genuine,  remains  yet  to  be  men- 
tioned. "Thwortz,"  a  Hungarian 
Chronicler  (or  perhaps  Chronicle),  of 
we  know  not  what  authority,  relates, 
' '  that  Attila  left  his  kingdom  to  his 
two  sons  Chaba  and  Aladar,  the  former 
by  a  Grecian  mother,  the  latter  by 
Kremheilch  (Chriemhild)  a  German  ; 
that  Theodoric,  one  of  his  followers, 
sowed  dissension  between  them ;  and, 
along  with  the  Teutonic  hosts,  took 
part  with  his  half-countryman  the 
younger  son  ;  whereupon  rose  a  great 
slaughter,  which  lasted  for  fifteen 
days,  and  terminated  in  the  defeat  of 
Chaba  (the  Greek),  and  his  flight  into 
Asia."  *  Could  we  but  put  faith  in 
this  Thwortz,  we  might  fancy  that 
some  vague  rumor  of  that  Kremheilch 

*  Weber  ("  Illustrations  of  Northern  Antiquities," 
p.  39),  who  cites  Gorres  ("  Zeitung  fiir  Kinsiedler  ") 
as  bis  authority. 


XLbc  mMbclnrxQcn  XleD  141 

Tragedy,  swoln  b}"  the  way,  had 
reached  the  German  ear  and  imagina- 
tion ;  where,  gathering  round  older 
Ideas  and  Mythuses,  as  Matter  round 
its  Spirit,  the  first  rude  form  oiChriem- 
hilde's  Revenge  and  the  Wreck  of  the 
Nibelungen  bodied  itself  forth  in 
Song, 

Thus  any  historical  light  emitted  by 
these  old  Fictions  is  little  better  than 
darkness  visible  ;  sufficient  at  most  to 
indicate  that  great  Northern  Immigra- 
tions, and  wars  and  rumors  of  war  have 
been  ;  but  nowise  how  and  what  they 
have  been.  Scarcely  clearer  is  the 
special  histor}^  of  the  Fictions  them- 
selves ;  where  they  were  first  put 
together,  who  have  been  their  succes- 
sive redactors  and  new-modellers.  Von 
der  Hagen,  as  we  said,  supposes  that 
there  may  have  been  three  several 
series  of  such.     Two,  at  all  events,  are 


142  XTbe  IRlbelunQen  XieD 

clearly  indicated.  In  their  present 
shape  we  have  internal  evidence  that 
none  of  these  poems  can  be  older  than 
the  twelfth  century  ;  indeed,  great  part 
of  the  ' '  Hero-book  ' '  can  be  proved 
to  be  considerably  later.  With  this 
last  it  is  understood  that  Wolfram  von 
Kschenbach  and  Heinrich  von  Ofter- 
dingen,  two  singers  otherwise  noted  in 
that  era,  were  largely  concerned ;  but 
neither  is  there  any  demonstration  of 
this  vague  belief:  while  again,  in 
regard  to  the  Author  of  our  actual 
"  Nibelungen,"  not  so  much  as  a 
plausible  conjecture  can  be  formed. 
Some  vote  for  a  certain  Conrad  von 
Wurzburg  ;  others  for  the  above- 
named  Eschenbach  and  Ofterdingen  ; 
others  again  for  Klingsohr  of  Unger- 
land,  a  minstrel  who  once  passed  for  a 
magician.  Against  all  and  each  of 
which  hypotheses  there  are  objections  ; 


XLbe  Haibelungeit  XteD  143 

and  for  i^one  of  them  the  smallest 
conclusive  evidence.  Who  this  gifted 
singer  may  have  been,  only  in  so  far  as 
his  Work  itself  proves  that  there  was 
but  One,  and  the  style  points  to  the 
latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century, — 
remains  altogether  dark  :  the  unwearied 
Von  der  Hagen  himself,  after  fullest 
investigation,  gives  for  verdict,  "we 
know  it  not. ' '  Considering  the  high 
worth  of  the  "  Nibelungen,"  and  how 
many  feeble  ballad-mongers  of  that 
Swabian  Era  have  transmitted  us 
their  names,  so  total  an  oblivion,  in 
this  infinitel}^  more  important  case,  may 
seem  surprising.  But  those  Miyiiielieder 
(I^ove-songs)  and  Provencal  Madrigals 
were  the  Court  Poetry  of  that  time,  and 
gained  honor  in  high  places  ;  while  the 
old  National  Traditions  were  common 
property  and  plebeian,  and  to  sing  them 
an  unrewarded  labor. 


144  ^be  IRibcluiiGcn  XtcD 

Whoever  lie  may  be,  let  him  have 
our  gratitude,  our  love.  lyOoking  back 
with  a  farewell  glance,  over  that 
wondrous  old  Tale,  with  its  many- 
colored  texture  "  of  joy  ances  and  high- 
tides,  of  weeping  and  of  woe,"  so 
skilfully  yet  artlessly  knit-up  into  a 
whole,  we  cannot  but  repeat  that  a 
true  epic  spirit  lives  in  it ;  that  in  many 
ways  it  has  meaning  and  charms  foi 
us.  Not  only  as  the  oldest  Tradition 
of  Modem  Europe,  does  it  possess  a 
high  antiquarian  interest ;  but  further, 
and  even  in  the  shape  we  now  see  it 
under,  unless  the  '  *  Epics  of  the  Son  of 
Fingal ' '  had  some  sort  of  authenticity, 
it  is  our  oldest  Poem  also  ;  the  earliest 
product  of  these  New  Ages,  which  on 
its  own  merits,  both  in  form  and  es- 
sence, can  be  named  Poetical.  Con- 
sidering its  chivalrous,  romantic  tone, 
it  may  rank  as  a  piece  of  literary  com- 


Zbc  naibelungcn  XieD  145 

position,  perhaps  considerably  higher 
than  the  Spanish  ' '  Cid  ' '  ;  taking 
in  its  historical  significance  and  deep 
ramifications  into  the  remote  Time,  it 
ranks  indubitably  and  greatly  higher. 
It  has  been  called  a  Northern  * '  Il- 
iad ' '  ;  but  except  in  the  fact  that  both 
Poems  have  a  narrative  character,  and 
both  sing  ' '  the  destructive  rage  ' '  of 
men,  the  two  have  scarcely  any  simi- 
larity. The  Singer  of  the  ' '  Nibelun- 
gen "  is  a  far  different  person  from 
Homer ;  far  inferior  both  in  culture 
and  in  genius.  Nothing  of  the 
glowing  imager}^,  of  the  fierce,  burst- 
ing energy,  of  the  mingled  fire  and 
gloom,  that  dwell  in  the  old  Greek, 
makes  its  appearance  here.  The 
German  Singer  is  comparatively  a 
simple  nature ;  has  never  penetrated 
deep  into  life ;  never  ' '  questioned 
Fate  "  ;  or  struggled  with  fearful  mys- 


146  Zhc  IFllbelun^cn  XleO 

teries  ;  of  all  which  we  find  traces  in 
Homer,  still  more  in  Shakespeare  ;  but 
with  meek,  believing  submission,  has 
taken  the  Universe  as  he  found  it 
represented  to  him  ;  and  rejoices  with 
a  fine  childlike  gladness  in  the  mere 
outward  shows  of  things.  He  has  little 
power  of  delineating  character  ;  per- 
haps he  had  no  decisive  vision  thereof. 
His  persons  are  superficially  distin- 
guished, and  not  altogether  without 
generic  difference  ;  but  the  portraiture 
is  imperfectly  brought  out ;  there  lay 
no  true  living  original  within  him. 
He  has  little  Fancy ;  we  find  scarcely 
one  or  two  similitudes  in  his  whole 
Poem  ;  and  these  one  or  two,  which 
moreover  are  repeated,  betoken  no 
special  faculty  that  way.  He  speaks 
of  the  ' '  moon  among  stars  ' '  ;  says 
often  of  sparks  struck  from  steel  armor 
in  battle,  and  so  forth,  that  they  were 


Zbc  IFlibclungen  3LieD  147 

wte  es  wehte  der  wind — ' '  as  if  the  wind 
were  blowing  them."  We  have  men- 
tioned Tasso  along  with  him ;  yet 
neither  in  this  case  is  there  any  close 
resemblance  ;  the  light,  playful  grace, 
still  more  the  Italian  pomp  and  sunny 
luxuriance  of  Tasso  are  wanting  in 
the  other.  His  are  humble  wood- 
notes  wild  ;  no  nightingale's,  but  yet 
a  sweet  sky-hidden  lark's.  In  all  the 
rhetorical  gifts,  to  say  nothing  of  rhe- 
thorical  attainments,  we  should  pro- 
nounce him  even  poor. 

Nevertheless,  a  noble  soul  he  must 
have  been,  and  furnished  with  far 
more  essential  requisites  for  Poetry 
than  these  are — namely,  with  the  heart 
and  feeling  of  a  Poet.  He  has  a  clear 
eye  for  the  Beautiful  and  True  ;  all 
unites  itself  gracefully  and  compactly 
in  his  imagination.  It  is  strange  with 
what  careless  felicity  he  winds  his  way 


148  ^be  IRtbelungen  XieD 

in  that  complex  Narrative,  and,  be  the 
subject  what  it  will,  comes  through  it 
unsullied,  and  with  a  smile.  His  great 
strength  is  an  unconscious  instinctive 
strength  ;  wherein  truly  lies  his  high- 
est merit.  The  whole  spirit  of  Chiv- 
alry, of  lyove,  and  heroic  Valor  must 
have  lived  in  him  and  inspired  him. 
Kverywhere  he  shows  a  noble  Sensi- 
bility ;  the  sad  accents  of  parting 
friends,  the  lamentings  of  women,  the 
high  daring  of  men,  all  that  is  worthy 
and  lovely  prolongs  itself  in  melodious 
echoes  through  his  heart.  A  true  old 
Singer,  and  taught  of  Nature  herself ! 
Neither  let  us  call  him  an  inglorious 
Milton,  since  now  he  is  no  longer  a 
mute  one.  What  good  were  it  that 
the  four  or  five  lyCtters  composing  his 
Name  could  be  printed,  and  pro- 
nounced, with  absolute  certainty  ?  All 
that  was  mortal  in  him  is  gone  utterly  ; 


^be  IRibclungen  XleD  149 

of  his  life,  and  its  environment,  as  of 
the  bodily  tabernacle  he  dwelt  in,  the 
very  ashes  remain  not.  Like  a  fair 
heavenly  Apparition,  which  indeed  he 
waSy  he  has  melted  into  air,  and  only 
the  Voice  he  uttered,  in  virtue  of  its 
inspired  gift,  yet  lives  and  will  live. 

To  the  Germans  this  ' '  Nibelungen 
Song ' '  is  naturally  an  object  of  no  com- 
mon love  ;  neither  if  they  sometimes 
overvalue  it,  and  vague  antiquarian 
wonder  is  more  common  than  just 
criticism,  should  the  fault  be  too 
heavily  visited.  After  long  ages  of 
concealment,  they  have  found  it  in 
the  remote  wilderness,  still  standing 
like  the  trunk  of  some  almost  ante- 
diluvian oak  ;  nay  with  boughs  on  it 
still  green,  after  all  the  wind  and 
weather  of  twelve  hundred  years.  To 
many  a  patriotic  feeling,  which  lingers 
fondlj^  in  solitary  places  of  the  Past, 


150  XTbe  IFllbelungcn  XieD 

it  may  well  be  a   rallying-point   and 
* '  lyOvers'  Try  sting-tree. ' ' 

For  us  also  it  has  its  worth.  A 
creation  from  the  old  ages,  still  bright 
and  balmy,  if  we  visit  it  ;  and  opening 
into  the  first  History  of  Europe,  of 
Mankind.  Thus  all  is  not  oblivion  ; 
but  on  the  edge  of  the  abyss  that 
separates  the  Old  world  from  the  New, 
there  hangs  a  fair  Rainbow-land ; 
which  also,  in  curious  repetitions  of 
itself  (twiee  over,  say  the  critics),  as  it 
were  in  a  secondary  and  even  a  ternary 
reflex,  sheds  some  feeble  twilight  far 
into  the  deeps  of  the  primeval  Time. 

the;  e;nd 


Xlterari3  Gems 


A  series  of  productions,  complete  in  small 
compass,  which  have  been  accepted  as  classics 
of  their  kind,  and  which  are  entitled  to  the  most 
attractive  form  that  can  be  given  to  them.  Each 
"  Gem "  is  presented  in  a  separate  volume, 
tastefully  printed  in  32mo,  and  attractively 
bound  in  full  morocco,  gilt  top,  with  a  frontis- 
piece in  photogravure.  Price,  per  volume,  in 
box 75  cts. 

FIRST  SERIES: 
The  Gold  Bug.     By  Edgar  Allan  Poe. 
Rab    and    His    Friends,    and    Marjorie    Fleming. 

By  John  Brown,  M.D. 
The  Good-Natured  Man.      By  Oliver  Goldsmith. 
The  Culprit  Fay.     By  Joseph  Rodman  Drake. 
Our  Best  Society.     By  George  William  Curtis. 
Sweetness  and  Light.     By  Matthew  Arnold.     . 

SECOND  SERIES: 
The  Nibelungen  Lied.     By  Thomas  Carlyle. 
The  King  of  the  Golden  River.     By  John  Ruskin. 
The  Science  of  History.  By  James  Anthony  Froude. 
Sonnets   from   the    Portuguese.      By  Elizabeth  B. 

Browning. 
The   School    for    Scandal.       By   Richard   Brinslev 

Sheridan. 
Nothing  to  "Wear.     By  William  Allen  Butler. 


THIRD  SERIES: 

Lyrics.     By  Robert  Browning. 

Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow.     By  Washington  Irving. 

Pre-Raphaelitism.     By  John  Ruskin. 

Rime    of    the    Ancient    Mariner,    and     Cristabel. 

By  S.  T.  Coleridge. 
Speeches  on  America.     By  John  Bright. 
Education  of  Children.     By  Montaigne. 

FOURTH    SERIES  : 
The  Rivals.     By  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan. 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  and  Wolfert's  Roost.     By  Wash- 
ington Irving. 
L'AUegro,    and   II    Penseroso,  together   with    the 

Sonnets  and  Odes.     By  John  Milton. 
Charity    and    Humor,  and    Nil    Nisi    Bonum.     By 

William  Makepeace  Thackeray. 
Elegy  Written  in  a  Country  Churchyard,  together 

with  a  Selection  from  the    Odes  and  Sonnets. 

By  Thomas  Gray. 
Thanatopsis,    The    Flood    of   Years,    Lines    to   a 

W^aterfowl,  and   Little   People   of  the    Snow. 

By  William  Cullen  Bryant. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Publishers 

NEW   YORK  AND    LONDON 


!ILfterarB  (3ems 


The  following  "  Gems"  are  bound  in  vellum 
cloth,  white  and  gold,  gilt  top,  rough  edges. 
Each  volume  has  a  frontispiece  in  photogravure. 

Price  per  set  of  two  volumes,  in  flat  box,  $i.oo 


jT  fGold  Bug-PoB. 

(Good-Natured  Man — Goldsmith. 

jj  j  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese — Browning. 

(  Lyrics — Robert  Browning. 


No.  3 


Our  Best  Society— Curtis. 
Nothing  to  Wear— Butler. 


jj  J  Nibelungen  Lied — Carlyle. 

'^      J  Science  of  History — Froude. 


No. 


J  Rab  and  His  Friends — Brown. 
5      (  King  of  the  Golden  River— Ruskin. 

jj      ,      j  Rip  Van  Winkle — Irving. 

«o.  o     -^  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow— Irving. 

«  J  School  for  Scandal— Sheridan. 

P*o.  7      -J  r^Yie  Rivals— Sheridan. 


No.  8 
No.  9 
No.  ic 


j  The  Culprit  Fay— Drake. 
}  L'Allegro — Milton. 

J  Sweetness  and  Light — Arnold. 
}  Charity  and  Humor — Thackeray. 

j  Elegy— Gray. 

j  Thanatopsis— Bryant. 


The  above  volumes  are  also  sold  separately  at 
50  cents. 


trrM^Y 


Z-%1. 


rt-vT/^-'^w*- 


0i 


PEGiONAL  M3RAP/  hAC!L:' 


i^^lil^?,  B     000  003  556 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


V:  P^Yl 


M.Z 


•93 


Univers 

Soutt 

Libi 


